Hicks Set to Miss Rest of 2021 Season?

The Yankees could have lost their valuable outfielder Aaron Hicks for the rest of the 2021 season as the MLB star finally conceded that his injury required surgery.

Hicks has been trying to continue on the plate while clearly not at his best, but increasing wrist pain forced him to accept that treatment would be required. 

Hicks' manager, Aaron Boone, confirmed that the player would be having surgery for a torn tendon sheath and admitted that he might not be back this season.

Hicks hasn’t had the best start to the season, starting slowly on the plate. He hit four home runs but had a batting average of .194/.294/.333 before discomfort from his wrist became too much. 

His batting has been unimpressive compared to last summer, where he notched up .225/.379/.414 with 10 doubles, two triples and six home runs. Postseason, things got even better with a .308/.424/.423 in the seven games.

After going on the injured list last week, an MRI confirmed a tear in his left wrist tendon sheath. This could go some way to explaining the lacklustre scores seen in 2021. 

Hicks' manager confirmed that the player had been desperate to avoid surgery, and in the past week, had been having rehab in the hopes that the tear could be repaired medically without intervention. That's proven not to be the case, and the degree of pain and limited function has meant that Hicks finds himself on the surgeon's table. 

While pointing out that no one yet knows how long Hicks will be absent, Boone said that it would be "months…plural" rather than just a brief stint on the sidelines. The manager said that surgeons hadn't yet been able to give a timeline and urged fans not to speculate on the outcome. He said that once surgery has been carried out, Hicks will be in a better position to judge whether a return this season will be likely.

The injury for Hicks wasn't caused by any particular game or play; it's a wear and tear injury that occurred gradually and continued to worsen. This is how he continued playing for some time, despite not being at his best. 

The concerns will be that Hicks has missed a large portion of games through injury in recent years and is showing real signs of physical fragility. 

In February 2019, Hicks signed a seven-year extension with the Yankees, a contract worth $70 million. Anyone following the MLB betting will be aware that Hicks has been heavily injury-struck, participating in only 86 out of a total of 222 potential games in 2019/2020. 

Past injuries have included a hamstring strain (2016), oblique strains (2017), intercostal strain (2018), back pain (2019) and flexor strain (2019). After being put out for the rest of the season, Hicks had Tommy John surgery to correct the ongoing problem. That has been resolved, but now he has a new injury to worry about, adding more weight to the suggestion that there are issues with his ability to stay fit.