TwinsCentric: Can Aaron Hicks Be Fixed?

One of the more critical openings the Minnesota Twins will have this year is in center fielder. If all goes well that job will be Aaron Hicks' to borrow. What are the odds that he meets expectations in 2015?

The offseason did not start off well for Hicks as in November he was released from his Venezuelan winter ball team after hitting just .220/.381/.280 in 16 games. The explanation from his team was that he was released because of the poor production but there were rumblings from local media that the Venezuelan team was also upset with his attitude. Whatever the case might be between him and Bravos de Margarita, earlier in the offseason general manager Terry Ryan was emphatic that the Twins organization had no concerns over Hicks' drive and makeup.

Meanwhile, during his introductory conference call with season ticket holders manager Paul Molitor reiterated his hopes that Hicks will be able to hold the center field job. That, of course, will depend on how much he can do with the stick. Since coming up to the Twins in 2013, Hicks has posted an OPS+ of 69 (heh) which is 79 out of 89 hitters who have played at least 25 games in center. Ahead of him? Sam Fuld (76), Jordan Schafer (82), Alex Presley (83) and Danny Santana (130). With the exception of Santana, those other three players were readily available making Hicks the epitome of a player below replacement-level.

It is a shame considering Hicks has all the requisite tools necessary to be a solid contributor. All that is, except hitting. If the baseball saying goes 'hit and we'll find a position for you', the opposite is certainly true for those who cannot hit.

There does not seem to be any reason to blame bad luck for the low offensive numbers, either. According to ESPN/TruMedia's database, since 2013 Hicks' hard-hit average has been at .115 -- well below the average of .155 and qualifies as 31 of 36 center fielders with 400 plate appearances. Because of this, it is easy to see why he wound up with the second lowest batting average on balls in play in that pool.

Part of what makes him so volatile at the plate is being a switch-hitter that has not found comfort at either side of the plate -- particularly from the left-hand side where he will find the bulk of his plate appearances. Ted Simmons, the former switch-hitting catcher who eventually became the San Diego Padres bench coach, offered this up to ESPN's Tim Kurkjian about hitting from both sides: It's difficult.

"Six percent of all players is a very small sample," Simmons told ESPN regarding having success when hitting from both sides. "And how many of that 6 percent are even capable of hitting .300? Now that 6 percent goes down to maybe 2 percent. So now we're talking about a very, very, very small sample. I also have yet to find a person that completely, totally, unequivocally has bilateral symmetry. One side is always dominant. People can't write right-handed and left-handed with the same physicality."

"I play golf right-handed. I do everything right-handed," Hicks told Alan Maimon and Chuck Myron in their book Hits and Misses in the Baseball Draft before the start of the 2012 season. "I think one of the main reasons I'm good at hitting baseball right-handed is because of the eye-hand coordination I developed playing golf. I never felt the same confidence hitting left-handed. And neither did my coaches. In high school, they'd say, 'Hey, we've got the bases loaded. Can Aaron please hit right-handed, so we can win this game?' [Before the 2012 season], I fooled around with playing left-handed golf. I think it helped my left-handed baseball swing come along."

Beyond the strains of switch-hitting, what is happening in his swing that is hindering his ability to make quality contact? In 2012 Hicks said to the Star Tribune's Phil Miller in a Baseball America article that he was tinkering too much with his swing the previous season.

"I never got any consistency last year because I was just tweaking my swing too much," the Hicks said. "I tried my hands high, then tried them low. I tried holding my bat still, then I tried letting my hands move more freely. I was constantly changing it up."

Despite trying multiple swings along the way, it appears that the bulk of the modifications were focused on his hands. Judging from recent video, the problem could be a few feet lower.

Watch his swing up to the point of contact from the left-hand side:

Also at TwinsDaily.com:

Read about J.R. Graham, the Twins' Rule 5 pickup in the minor league section of the draft.

Listen to the new No Juice Podcast discussing the Twins' recent offseason moves.

Order your Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2015.