Once Aaron Hicks gets over his sore back, it would smart of him to put his head down and grind through the rest of the regular season.
Hicks erred on Sunday when he arrived at Target Field shortly before 11 a.m. for the 1:10 p.m start. Just a half hour earlier, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire noted that Hicks hadn't arrived at the park yet and ruled him unavailable for the game.
Right before the game, Twins GM Terry Ryan was asked if Hicks would get into more trouble than missing Sunday's game.
``Gardy will handle that," Ryan said. ``I don't know if he was late or not. The big mistake is that he's coming off of a stiff lower back that led to him being scratched. You would like to think that he would be in for treatment, so in that regard, yes he made a mistake. But Gardy will handle that."
Gardy said after the game that missing Sunday would be enough.
Just a few weeks ago, Gardenhire was saying how Hicks looked as focused as he's ever seen him, and the former No. 1 pick was showing off a shorter swing and collecting hits while batting lefthanded. Now this.
He's been on the fence about playing winter ball. That shouldn't be a tough decision. Playing just a half season in Venezuela would do him good and show the organization that he is serious about getting better. And it would help them forget about today's misstep.
