If Hicks gets sent down...

[twinscowboysbulls]

Do they send the message down with him that he is a RH batter? It would make sense, being the majority of his at-bats have been LH(and terrible) that the Twins would send him down with the task being to get at-bats right handed exclusively and hopefully snap out of his slump and come back to the majors. I imagine it would be temporarily difficult batting RH against RH pitching, but in time he could get the hang of things (100 AB's?)

 

Everyone knows the M.O. on Hicks, If he fails this time up with the Twins, I would think that would be the first step in correcting the fella. Him being a RH batter only wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, we have plenty of LH batters.

[Seth Stohs]

Last year in New Britain, he posted an OPS of .881 against lefties and .828 as a left-handed batter. There is no reason for him to stop switch-hitting at this point.... I don't think.

[twinscowboysbulls]

If struggles continue, do you just suggest more seasoning in AAA?

[Seth Stohs]

If struggles continue, do you just suggest more seasoning in AAA?

 

Of course.

[Badsmerf]

Last year was his first good year from the left side. At the start of the year, I was driving the Hicks-as-a-full-time-RH-hitter bandwagon. His results showed he is capable of switch hitting, though I still think he might be better RH. Simply 10 games into his MLB career when he skipped a level to get here (and shouldn't have) is too early to give up on him. I (and hopefully many others) still feel he can become a solid regular in time. I don't believe the Twins will leave him up to struggle this badly for too much longer. I wish Benson was hitting in AAA so they could have a fall-back guy. Curious to see if Arcia gets a start in CF...

[Otto von Ballpark]

Hicks did have more power batting from the right side last year, and his left side batting stats may have benefitted from a spike in BABIP. He also struck out a tick more from the left side, although he also walked significantly more. Makes sense, I suppose, that he would be more patient from his weaker side.

 

His 2010 season was the only one so far that really suggests he might be weakened overall by batting from the left side. And that could have been a one-year blip -- you may be able to find similar variations from other switch-hitters. That's not to say he won't have different success rates from both sides, just that the statistical evidence does not suggest he's a liability due to one side.

 

I think it's fairly clear right now that his problems go far beyond switch-hitting.

[Oldgoat_MN]

I think it's fairly clear right now that his problems go far beyond switch-hitting.

 

Yes. Hope he can get on track. Patience is a good thing, but there is a point at which you need to see what other approach might be helpful.

[twinscowboysbulls]

Right, hopefully no one took this post as Hicks sucks, lets dump him to the Pirates. I still think he can be successful, probably needs more time in MiLB though.

[jimbo92107]

Little League season's coming up, so I did my first session in the batting cages at the Nevers - Larkin facility in Eden Prairie. After conferring my wisdom on hitting to several kids, I took a turn in the batting cage myself, choosing the manly speed of 87mph.

 

Not sure what happened next. Every few seconds I heard a loud thump back and to my right. Eventually I realized those were baseballs hitting the pad behind me. Now I'll be the first to admit that hitting baseballs is difficult, but it just doesn't seem fair when they're invisible until after they stop and roll past your feet.

 

I guess now I have more sympathy for guys like Aaron Hicks. It's one thing to hit a lazy, arcing tennis ball that comes bouncing over a net; it's quite another when it seems you're swinging a ten pound stick at a BB shot from 30 feet. What's worse is that the machine isn't trying to fool you by changing speeds, spins and locations. How the heck does anybody hit these things.

 

After awhile, I did connect with a couple balls. Two of them might have been can-of-corn fly balls to shallow outfield. Maybe I'll try the 55mph cage for awhile... Hitting baseballs is hard.

[jokin]

Little League season's coming up, so I did my first session in the batting cages at the Nevers - Larkin facility in Eden Prairie. After conferring my wisdom on hitting to several kids, I took a turn in the batting cage myself, choosing the manly speed of 87mph.

 

Not sure what happened next. Every few seconds I heard a loud thumping sound back and to my right. Eventually I realized those were baseballs hitting the pad behind me. Now I'll be the first to admit that hitting baseballs is difficult, but it just doesn't seem fair when they're invisible until after they stop and roll past your feet.

 

I guess now I have more sympathy for guys like Aaron Hicks. It's one thing to hit a lazy, arcing tennis ball that comes bouncing over a net; it's quite another thing to swing a ten pound stick at a BB shot from what looks like 30 feet. What's worse is that the machine isn't trying to fool you by changing speeds, spins and locations. How the heck does anybody hit these things.

 

After awhile, I did connect with a couple balls. Two of them might have been can-of-corn fly balls to shallow outfield. Maybe I'll try the 55mph cage for awhile... Hitting baseballs is hard.

 

How right you are!

 

And I'll add the very real element of fear. Fear of failure, sure, but the very real physical fear of taking one to the head or other prone area- as a LH hitter, I remember having a hard time digging in against southpaws without bailing out against the hook or a guy who could throw "heat" ( we had one LH guy on our college team who made it up for a short and marginal career on the Giants as a reliever, I was lucky enough to get the bat on a few- and that was in BP).