With Cedric Mullins Hurt It Now Appears The Orioles Are Kicking The Tires On Aaron Hicks. Yes, That Aaron Hicks
When it rains it pours, and that is what it's doing the last 24 hours in Baltimore. Cedric Mullins pulling up lame late in Monday's loss was the last thing Orioles fans wanted to see. This is a guy who has come into a world of his own, was playing great and likely headed to another All-Star Game. Now we are waiting on MRI results to see how long he is out with a right abductor/groin strain. Hopefully it's just a few weeks but you know how tricky groins can be. Especially for a guy like Cedric whose whole game is centered around his speed. It's a massive blow for the Orioles if they don't have Mullins for an extended period of time. He is the straw that stirs the Orioles drink, the team goes as he goes. And for the foreseeable future he'll be sidelined. Just a terrible break for Mullins. The second the injury happened we started wondering what the club would do....and now we have a name being tossed around.
Aaron Hicks. Gross. The same Aaron Hicks that was booed out of New York and the guy that we've seen be trashed by Yankees fans for years, the same one who was signed to a 7 year/$70 Million deal a few years back. He's been awful since, legit awful. I get why the Orioles are kicking the tires, he's a switch hitter who plays center. Not very well, but technically he can play there. I'd rather skip the headache that is Hicks and run with Austin Hays in CF and let Terrin Vavra/Adam Frazier fill in a corner spot with Anthony Santander in the other spot. Maybe a Daz Cameron sighting from Triple-A Norfolk? It sucks because the other Orioles prospects are all hurt at the moment. Colton Cowser should be close to being ready for an MLB call up but he's still on the IL but will be off soon, Hudson Haskin is a name tossed around but he's doing rehab assignment, and Kyle Stowers was bad when he was in Baltimore and is also hurt.
Is Aaron Hicks really the best available option? Are we just hoping a change of scenery will turn him around? I don't think that will happen but who knows. Orioles have to weather this storm, and they will. Been a slow couple of games since taking 2/3 in NY but they still have enough talent to keep their winning pace. Maybe they won't play as well as we saw them earlier but I still fully expect them to keep stacking wins. 34-20 through a third of the season is way above what we expected, but now we see what they are made of. Let's just hope it doesn't include Aaron Hicks.