I Was Wrong: Aaron Hicks Edition

[BK432]

I'm going to go ahead and offer this up right now. I was flat out wrong about Aaron Hicks. I gave up on him before this season, and I said something to the effect of

 

"he's a fourth outfielder at best, no need to keep him at AAA, use him as a defensive specialist and pinch runner at MLB."

 

So I just wanted to publicly shame myself and say, once again, I was wrong. Thrilled to see him seemingly making the jump.

 

And I have learned, though I am generally patient, to continue to exude patience in guys who are 25 or younger. They deserve it.

 

Anyone else?

[Shane Wahl]

It's good to cleanse oneself. My guy is Mike Pelfrey. I am waiting it out still . . . .

[twinsnorth49]

I was wrong......news at 11.

[bluechipper]

I always liked his eye at the plate, and I was hoping he could hit at roughly the same rate as some of his minor league stops and be a guy who hits .270 with a good amount of walks. Now it looks like he could hit for some good power numbers too.

[Oxtung]

This is a bit premature IMO. His stats are being driven by his unsustainably high .417 BABIP against left handed pitchers. That is going to fall and when it does.... Well who knows where it ends at and how that will affect his overall game. His splits against righties are mediocre but certainly nothing special.

[Badsmerf]

I'd also say it is premature. Until he can hit rhp.... He is nothing more than a fourth of. His splits are alarming, not just bad. Have been that way since he turned pro. Perhaps molitor has taken notice and is putting him in a position to succeed? Something gardy continuously overlooked.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm encouraged by his season. Once he stops switch hitting maybe we'll see some better results. I'm pretty confident that eventually he will drop it again.

[stringer bell]

Given how poorly he performed the first two years, it looked like Hicks was a bust as a number one draft choice. His numbers in 63 games are indeed very good. I thought Aaron Hicks could be a centerfielder in the majors and probably start somewhere. Right now (SSS) he is better than that. We're speculating that he can fill a corner outfield spot. I'm still not sure of that.

[luckylager]

Following a path very similar to Torii's. I have learned to be much more patient with prospects (I would have given up on David Ortiz at the time too).  Great to see Aaron finally figuring things out and living up to his potential (with the Twins and not another club).

[Thegrin]

So far, he has not self destructed.  I am glad I am wrong. 

but I would rather trade him for a catcher than depend on him.

[Dantes929]

I said his future was as a platoon player where he would be quite valuable alongside a guy like Arcia.    His overall numbers are very good but driven by an OPS from the right side of 1.022.    His left side numbers are better than I thought they would be but still not very good.    Broken record here.   He could have been really good if he never took a swing as a left handed batter.     I am hoping to be proven wrong and he eventually hits .280 as a lefty.

[jimbo92107]

 

I'm going to go ahead and offer this up right now. I was flat out wrong about Aaron Hicks. I gave up on him before this season, and I said something to the effect of

 

"he's a fourth outfielder at best, no need to keep him at AAA, use him as a defensive specialist and pinch runner at MLB."

 

So I just wanted to publicly shame myself and say, once again, I was wrong. Thrilled to see him seemingly making the jump.

 

And I have learned, though I am generally patient, to continue to exude patience in guys who are 25 or younger. They deserve it.

 

Anyone else?

I have a thing about being wrong...I don't like it. However, what's worse than being wrong is staying wrong. That's why I'd rather be corrected by someone, thank them for saving me from staying wrong, then move on.

 

Life is stuffed full of misconceptions and bad information. Frankly, it's remarkable that more of us don't blow ourselves up at the gas station.

 

We all knew Aaron Hicks was a gifted athlete. That's why it was so frustrating watching him go through the hard process of developing a swing that could unleash his power. Finally he has found that swing, and I don't think we will ever see him stray far from what he's doing now. His lefty swing will continue to develop more power as he learns to coil, compress and explode around with his rear hip. He's getting it, and more reps will make it even better.

 

I don't think anybody here has been right about all his guesses. Good to keep in mind that most players don't make it in the pros. You can be a damn good ballplayer and never get out of the minors.

[Oxtung]

After rereading his post I think I'm more in line with OP than my last pieces suggested. At this point hicks, even after his splits have normalized a bit, is hitting enough to be a CF as long as he is playing great defense which he has been this season. I'm more pushing back on the notion that Hicks is a sure thing at this point and that he will slide easily into a corner OF spot when Buxton arrives. So to clarify, he appears like he will hit enough to be a below average offensive but still good defensive cf with potential to improve. Anything more than that is highly questionable at this point imo.

[Jham]

I was wrong about Hicks.  I too thought he was a 4th outfielder.  At least for this season, he's been far better.  I wanted Santana to start over him in Center.  So I was way wrong about Santana who is swinging much like Hicks used to swing (poorly) but without the ability to realize he's over-matched and try to draw walks.  

 

I was wrong about Pelfrey, then wrong again about Pelfrey when I changed my mind about Pelfrey.  I said Pelfrey was horrible and not worthy of even a spot in the pen.  Turns out he was at least worthy of that thanks to a new found splitter.  Then I said he was good and perhaps better than what he was showing because his K numbers were lower than they should have been.  They weren't.  He's bad.  Then occasionally good. But not good enough to make me right about my second prediction, and not horrible enough for me to be right about my first one.  I'll go ahead and predict we'll re-sign Pelfrey after the season and hope to God I can make it 0-3 on Pelfrey predictions. 

[h2oface]

 

I'd also say it is premature. Until he can hit rhp.... He is nothing more than a fourth of. His splits are alarming, not just bad. Have been that way since he turned pro. Perhaps molitor has taken notice and is putting him in a position to succeed? Something gardy continuously overlooked.

Don't get me wrong, I'm encouraged by his season. Once he stops switch hitting maybe we'll see some better results. I'm pretty confident that eventually he will drop it again.

I guess going 4/5 with a homer from the left side off right handed pitching the other day doesn't count?

 

Glad I wasn't wrong about Hicks, and it was sure tiring to listen to/read all the endless disparaging of him. Hicks will have slumps, and will make some mistakes in the field, but he is still young and improving. 

 

Pelfrey....... he is still a worse than mediocre pitcher that is capable of some good games. I still predict that his ERA will approach 5 by the end of the year, if not be over 5. Don't be fooled. He is still Pelfrey and not "young".

 

[stringer bell]

Hicks-yep, he's been very good since returning from injury. Everything about his offense is better, lefty and righty. I agree with Oxtung that there is zero proof that he can be a capable corner outfielder. Also, I want to give the Twins credit for handling Aaron properly after probably making the wrong decisions on him for two straight years. HIcks didn't stand out in the spring, and the message that he had to go to the minors and dominate was just the right call. Also, if we all hearken back to when Buxton was injured, the Twins waited several days before activating Hicks from DL rehab. Perhaps the message there resonated with Hicks because he has played a a high level since, not counting a misjudged fly ball.

 

On the pitching front, Pelfrey has logged a lot of decent innings. He is far better this year than other guys who have filled a fifth starter role in other years. I was on board with May going to the bullpen if it wasn't as a long man. He was moving toward pitching high-leverage innings, but now should have a home in the rotation for the balance of the year. Not a great fan of going two days in a row with nearly guaranteed short starts, followed by a guy coming off the disabled list.

[dougkoebernick]

BEWARE THE GHOSTS OF DANNY SANTANA AND OSWALDO ARCIA!

[DaveW]

I am wrong a TON. But I was right on Hicks and always thought he would end up being a good player, not all star level, but Span level like. Hopefully he keeps it up and becomes a key part of a 4-5 year playoff run for this team.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I was down on Hicks but never gave up on him. He's a good reminder why you NEVER give up on a guy with his level of talent and why you don't throw away a prospect just because he stumbles a few times along the way or because he's "too old" to be a prospect anymore.

[spinowner]

 

I was down on Hicks but never gave up on him. He's a good reminder why you NEVER give up on a guy with his level of talent and why you don't throw away a prospect just because he stumbles a few times along the way or because he's "too old" to be a prospect anymore.

 

 

BEWARE THE GHOSTS OF DANNY SANTANA AND OSWALDO ARCIA!

As these posts point out, we don't want to be haunted by giving up on those two too soon. There's too much potential there. Even if Arcia struggles again next year I'd rather put up with him underproducing on our major league roster than give him up because he's out of options.

[Brandon Warne]

Just stopped by the thread to say hi, and #StickWithHicks