Aaron Hicks Can Move Things With His Mind
https://gfycat.com/dependentsphericalkakapo
Aaron Hicks is not having the best start to his season. It feels like every year for the past few years, analysts and fantasy players alike have been expecting Hicks to break out as a solid starting outfielder. You could pretty much guarantee that every time Hicks’ name was heard on a podcast, it would be shortly followed by “if only he could stay healthy” or “the Yankees just need to play him every day.” He’s always been this close to being quite the breakout player. And finally this year, he has his opportunity, and he’s not exactly capitalizing on it, entering today with a mere .208 batting average.
So enter today, with the Yankees hosting the Boston Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball (hmm… that sounds familiar). Hicks knows the eyes of the world will be on him, and he can’t let this opportunity go to waste. He digs in against Chris Mazza, who is making his first start ever at the big league level, and with a runner on 2nd, his eyes light up as thoughts of a two-run bomb dance in his head. And then he hits the ball immediately into the ground. The ball is right on the line, and Hicks is thinking, maybe this ball should go foul. If it can just go foul, I can get another chance… but maybe I still have a chance to drive in Brett Gardner from 2nd base. Hicks immediately turns on his newly-found superpowers, and sends the ball hard into the bag, popping it way higher up into the air than it ever should have gone. And just like that, Hicks got himself a double and drove in Gardner. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Hicks does moving forward. Perhaps making some of the most incredible catches in the outfield, as well as pinpoint accurate throws from the warning track? The possibilities are endless.
Sterling Sharp Rocked the Coolest Cleats
.@DatDude_Ster42 took the field in some custom cleats that honored the #NegroLeagues100 today. pic.twitter.com/lCFUEPy1WK
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 16, 2020
You can’t know where you are going without first knowing where you came from, and Sterling Sharp wants to make sure we all remember baseball’s roots. The Negro Leagues weren’t just a place for the greatest black athletes to play before MLB finally got their act together, but also a place of great innovation and advancement of the game. Helmets and shinguards were first used in Negro League games, and the first night baseball games were also played in the Negro Leagues, hoping to attract the working class to the crowds. We have come a long way in the past 60 years, but we still have so much more to go, and I’m all for athletes using their platform to continue to spread the word.
Guess Who’s Back, Back, Back, Back
Boy, that escalated quickly. pic.twitter.com/8Z7tUerwbc
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 16, 2020
Moncada. Grandal. Abreu. Jimenez.
Before the season started, the Minnesota Twins were the odds-on favorites to win the AL Central, but the White Sox were always mentioned in the conversation. “They’ve got a great young core,” “Don’t sleep on their hitting,” “This team will be the top of the division sooner than you think,” were all said about the White Sox. Those four names above are for sure part of the next great White Sox team, and it’s fitting that those four were the ones who demolished four home runs in a row (the only other player who should have been in there would have been Luis Robert, but we’ll take this). I’m super excited to see the continual growth happening on the South Side over the next few seasons.
Welcome to the Major Leagues, Keibert Ruiz
https://gfycat.com/gregariousunfinishedfirebelliedtoad
Speaking of being excited to see future growth, how about Keibert Ruiz?! At one point seen as one of the best catcher prospects in baseball, the hype around Ruiz has cooled a bit in the past year as he struggled in AA, slashing just .254/.329/.330 across 76 games. He is on the young side though, actually becoming the youngest catcher in the big leagues right now at age 22, so he’s got plenty of time to continue to refine his game. And while the Dodgers seem to have found their catcher of the future in Will Smith, many have believed for quite some time now that Ruiz has the brighter future behind the dish. It’s a good problem to have, and Ruiz is definitely going to do his part to make it a really tough decision on the Dodgers’ front office. Hitting a home run in your first big league at-bat is certainly starting off on the right foot.
The real highlight here though comes at the end. You gotta love to hear the kid being loose enough to joke around in his big league debut, yelling out “Baseball’s easy!” as he was celebrating with his teammates. Hopefully, it always stays that way.
Welcome to the Major Leagues, Roel Ramirez
Roel Ramirez is the first player in history to allow back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in his MLB debut, per the great @SlangsOnSports. But hey, he's a big leaguer, which is more than most of us can say. #stlcards https://t.co/R8cvvubqpf
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) August 16, 2020
Congratulations on making it to the bigs! You’ll always be in the history books now, and it can only get better from here.