Yankees finally getting reinforcements in the outfield as speedster commences rehab assignment

tim locastro, yankees

The New York Yankees have struggled with their outfield depth over the past week, losing Giancarlo Stanton to an ankle injury and Aaron Hicks battling a hamstring injury. Losing Hicks wasn’t exactly the biggest negative, considering he’s hitting .200 with a 32.6% on base rate this season.

Offensively, Hicks has been a shell of himself, having hit 27 HRs back in 2018 and failing to hit more than 12 since 2019. A wrist injury last season completely derailed his 2021 campaign, but the issue might’ve taken away his power this year. Hicks hosts a 30.3% hard-hit rate, the lowest in his career. He’s also earned just a 1.1% barrel rate and an 87.1 MPH exit velocity — two abysmal numbers.

The Yankees have tried to supplement his deficiencies in multiple ways. Reserve outfielder Tim Locastro has played a part in that equation.

Locastro suffered an oblique injury about two weeks ago, finally commencing a rehab assignment on Tuesday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Per the Yankees:

Today, OF Tim Locastro commences a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Locastro is hitting .231 this season over 15 plate appearances. He has one homer, equaling the same amount as Hicks over a much larger sample size of 120 at-bats. Locastro has also stolen four bases and walked at 13.3%, good for a 33.3% on base rate.

Tim has also offered great defensive capabilities, stretching centerfield. He even came up with a spectacular diving catch against the Kansas City Royals several weeks ago.

Getting Locastro back should help the outfield tremendously, especially with Stanton still fighting his way back from a sore ankle and Hicks battling a hamstring injury.