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.
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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.
It’s a bird. It’s a plane! It’s Tim Locastro!! pic.twitter.com/Llx5ZgnQMv
— Eric (@Eric_M888) April 17, 2022
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.