Article: Aaron Hicks' defensive gaffes draw manager's ire

[Parker Hageman]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1681-Aaron-Hicks-defense-graffes-draws-manager-s-ire

[Seth Stohs]

Still, when you are put on Gardy’s double-secret probation list, the slightest indiscretion triggers these types of reactions.

 

What Gardy got upset about tonight was as slight as it gets. It was nothing. By itself, there was absolutely nothing that Hicks did wrong with the flip.

 

The bigger story is that Hicks has struggled defensively. The biggest issue was what made his catch last night so tough. There has been many times where his first step after contact is back and then he really has to race in to make a catch. Last night, he covered a lot of ground to make a very nice catch after one false step. In previous games, that one false step has meant the ball has dropped in for a hit.

 

Missing the cutoff man is another strange one. Obviously you coach to hit the cutoff man... just like you coach the infielders to make good throws to first base. Once in awhile, one is going to get away from you. No one wants that. No one goes into a throw saying I'm going to throw this once 20 feet over the first baseman, or try to make him scoop it. Likewise, Hicks missed the cutoff the other night, it was clear he wasn't trying to throw home or all the way to third. He just missed the throw.

 

Just like the shortstop gets an error on a bad throw, if Hicks (or whoever) misses a cut, he can get an error. Sometimes the first baseman saves the shortstop/3B/2B an error by making a great scoop. Sometimes the throw goes to the 2nd cut off and an out still gets made.

 

I'm at the point where I think the best thing for Hicks long-term (which should be the #1 objective anyway) is to get to AAA and keep working on his offense and his defense. It has little to do with individual plays (Because mistakes and errors happen, they'e part of the game!), but the overall body of work for Hicks this season has been pretty poor. He needs the time in AAA.

 

What annoys me more than anything is words like lackadaisical, lack of effort, lazy, etc. Mr. Bremer used those kinds of words. Hicks is none of those things, and that play shown shows none of that. He made one mis-step and then hustled like crazy to wind up making a nice catch.

[jokin]

Has any CFer ever had more "lucky" OF assists in such a short span of time than Aaron Hicks?

 

You're post is right on, Seth. Hicks's career path has been continually a 2 year adjustment to each successive level. I posted in the spring that a AAA demotion or two for Hicks was probably inevitable- Certainly, other talented Twins players have been up and down, it won't be the end of the world if/when the boom falls on Hicks. The problem right now is the glaring lack of alternative legitimate options at the position.

[Pius Jefferson]

When you hit like **** and look lost in CF, the manager is going to be upset over a nonchalant looking catch and flip no matter how safe they actually were.

[wagwan]

I don't like the manager showing up his players in public like that. Hicks is a rookie. He is going to make mistakes. Having the manager blow up like that in the dugout is not good. The Twins are going to have quite a few young guys in the lineup the next few years. I have always been a Gardy supporter. But maybe he is not the guy to lead this next wave of young players. Yes they are pros. But they are not going to play like ten year vets. They will do things like that goofy celebration that cost Harrison a grand slam at Cedar rapids. But it was fun to watch those kids enjoying winning. I kind of liked the flip too. It IS a game after all. Does Gardy expect Hicks to perform better after he reacted like that? Would anybody?

[big dog]

I'm not so sure it was the flip. It also looked like he got a late break on the ball and had to come running in hard. He ended up catching the ball below his waist. He has got to start getting better reads on the ball- if he's not even catching flies he's not adding much (and he's not getting better).

[Thrylos]

Gardy better talk about the Doumit missed catch the other day, which cost the Twins the game. But, of course, it was Gardy who let Doumit play LF. That flip was nothing. If he picks on Hicks' fielding he should be picking on every other outfielder, since Hicks is much better that the others. And I am sure that the kid who just started to find his bat really needs that criticism right now... It will do wonders for him and the team.

 

Let's see Willingham try to get to that ball.

 

Gardy's got to go. He's been getting as curmudgeonly as Kelly was in his last years.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

(I originally posted this on the blog side) These are the managerial moves that will define Gardy's final contract year. Are the young players progressing? Is the current manager building up the organization? Too soon to tell, but woudln't it be nice if a ballgame at Fenway in early May 2013 will be remembered as a turning point in Aaron Hick's long career as a Twin? Gardy has had this impact in the past, as Justin Morneau credits his turnaround, not on a fight with Torii Hunter in Kansas City, but with a sit-down heart-to-heart with his manager, early in his 2006 MVP season.

JockBio: Justin Morneau Biography

I'm hoping Uncle Gardy takes the kid aside when the cameras aren't rolling, debriefs the situation, and puts "Hicksie" back in center field tonight. I would love to see the kid get his first multi-hit game of the season on the backside of this incident.

 

Here's La Velle's take:

3. HICKS IN CROSSHAIRS?: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire did not like the way Aaron Hicks, who entered the game as a defensive replacement, flipped the ball to Brian Dozier after catching a fly ball in the eighth. And Gardy let Hicks have it after the inning. Hicks said he understood why the manager wasn't happy with him. Hicks didn't start on Tuesday and part of the reason might have been how he's gone after fly balls. But I wouldn't be surprised if Hicks is back in there Wednesday. More at:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/206538961.html

[Steve Penz]

I think it is interesting what we classify as rookie behavior. At what age were we all taught that hitting a cut-off man is incredibly important or that you keep a bat head high when trying to lay down a bunt or you will give away an easy pop up? He is not a rookie to those skills and concepts. I will not ride Hicks for looking lost at the plate since he jumped levels and batting in the MLB is one of the most difficult sports skills on earth. Lazy play needs to be dealt with immediately. It seems very exceptional to me that Gardy would yell at him in the dugout in a public forum which makes me wonder how many times this had been addressed when the cameras were not on them. Maybe he just boiled over and the fact that Hicks had a guilty look on his face immediately speaks to this. He knew the moment afterwards that he had done something wrong and was in the dog house. I am speculating a lot right now. Short version is lazy play can lose games and it needs to be stamped out quickly.

[big dog]

Gardy better talk about the Doumit missed catch the other day, which cost the Twins the game. But, of course, it was Gardy who let Doumit play LF. That flip was nothing. If he picks on Hicks' fielding he should be picking on every other outfielder, since Hicks is much better that the others. And I am sure that the kid who just started to find his bat really needs that criticism right now... It will do wonders for him and the team.

 

Let's see Willingham try to get to that ball.

 

Gardy's got to go. He's been getting as curmudgeonly as Kelly was in his last years.

 

I think the difference is that Hicks can be better, and should be. Doumit has no business being in LF, but Gardy put him there and he is who he is. Any player, but especially a really young one, ought to make the best of their talent, and even if they are underperforming they have to improve. Lots of stories of players who end their careers and people say what if they had tried harder, what if coaches hadn't let them get away with things because of their talent early in their career.

 

Not saying that's the case with Hicks, but saying he's a better outfielder than Doumit so leave him alone seems like a pretty short-sighted approach to me.

[Winston Smith]

There's a saying "praise in public", "criticize in private" Good rule to live by.

[cmathewson]

Gardy needs to get used to coaching guys without shaming them. If he stays around, he will have a lot of young, raw talent in here over the next few years. My sense is what Hicks is doing is nothing compared to what Sano or Rosario will be doing when they get here.

 

I think Hicks is making slow progress. He sometimes gets fooled on balls where a guy takes a big swing and hits it off the end of the bat. Looking on TV, it seems like he's let a couple of balls fall in front of him that were catchable, if everything goes right. But that's a learning process. If he's better off learning in AAA, fine, send him down. We now have a viable option down there (Benson, not Thomas).

 

Offensively, he's been about what we expect since the disastrous first 10 games. I'd rather he learn to hit up here, where he can learn the pitchers, than down there, where only a few of the pitchers will end up in the majors.

[big dog]

The TV feed I saw showed Gardy speaking to Hicks and Hicks listening intently. Gardy wasn't screaming and waving his arms. I didn't read any quotes from Gardy in the paper today criticizing Hicks for the flip, or for getting a late jump. Compared to some of the hell TK put young players through, this wasn't anything.

[COtwin]

Yet another glaring example of Gardenhire's ineptness with young players. Even if he does get credit for Justin's turn around, how pathetic is that? One player in ten years publicly acknowledges his coaches good input. Is everyone else just to shy to give credit where credit is do? Or is there just none to be given? I agree with Wagwan. Gardy is not the one to help these up and comers find success. Do we think Hicks would have as many hits as he does now without Bruno?

[cmathewson]

The TV feed I saw showed Gardy speaking to Hicks and Hicks listening intently. Gardy wasn't screaming and waving his arms. I didn't read any quotes from Gardy in the paper today criticizing Hicks for the flip, or for getting a late jump. Compared to some of the hell TK put young players through, this wasn't anything.

 

This. Gardy is free to instruct players on the finer points of the game at any time. Better to do it when it happens than after a few days and through the papers (as he has sometimes done). I thought Gardy handled this one appropriately. Maybe he's learning.

 

This was way overblown by FSN North, in particular, Dick Bremmer, who's knowledge of the game begins and ends with, "he's going to be bunting here," in obvious swing-away situations.

[IdahoPilgrim]

I have to question the idea that has been espoused by a couple of people here that the dugout is a "public" venue. Yes, the ubiquitous (today's 25-cent word:)) presence of television has given the public a glimpse into that (although without audio so we don't actually know what was said or what Gardy was mad about), but it is still, in my mind, a private venue, just as the locker room is private. With the advent of video-capable smartphones, even locker room "discussions" can now be aired publicly, but that doesn't make it a public forum. There is still a big difference between what happens in a dugout and a locker room and what is said in a post-game press conference that is an intended media event.

 

And, while Gardenhire's personality and interpersonal skills are a valid topic of conversation, let's not start shifting the blame for Hicks's play to Gardenhire. Hicks is the one who is making simple mistakes that big-league players just should not be making. When you make the first mistake, the manager should gently correct and coach you; when you make the third mistake, the manager can still correct and coach; when you make the 10th, 15th, etc... at some point you have to kick some butt, because obviously the soft-sell approach is not sinking in.

 

Same thing with Plouffe at third.

[Guest USAFChief]

IMO, last night was just another example of why I've come to the conclusion it's in everyone's best interests to replace Gardy, the sooner the better. Hicks certainly hasn't impressed anyone with this defense, but I don't get the sense that's because he's not trying hard, or doesn't care. In my experience, when someone is trying hard but not succeeding, yelling at them--especially publicly--tends to make the situation worse. Figure out what needs to be done to correct the deficiencies, and work on that, rather than give the person more reason to question themselves.

[Aaron Cross]

Gardy loves to make it about him. Call the kid to your office and reem his butt. Making a spectacle is weak on gardy's part. That said, I think its time to send hicks down.

[Aaron Cross]

I dont want gardenhire managing the next group coming up. He's just not the man for the job.

[Shane Wahl]

Gardenhire doing this publicly is not how professional people are supposed to act. going ape**** over a flip like that is beyond ridiculous.

 

How long can people actually take both this kind of unprofessionalism and idiotic managing?

[Shane Wahl]

IMO, last night was just another example of why I've come to the conclusion it's in everyone's best interests to replace Gardy, the sooner the better. Hicks certainly hasn't impressed anyone with this defense, but I don't get the sense that's because he's not trying hard, or doesn't care. In my experience, when someone is trying hard but not succeeding, yelling at them--especially publicly--tends to make the situation worse. Figure out what needs to be done to correct the deficiencies, and work on that, rather than give the person more reason to question themselves.

 

 

Spot on.

[TheLeviathan]

If that was Willingham.....we'd have never heard a thing publicly.

[Guest USAFChief]

If that was Willingham.....we'd have never heard a thing publicly.

No, we wouldn't have. But perhaps a better example is, if that were Revere, Gardy would have been yucking it up in the dugout, and telling everyone what a "great kid that is."

[Mr. Ed]

Gardenhire doing this publicly is not how professional people are supposed to act. going ape**** over a flip like that is beyond ridiculous.

 

How long can people actually take both this kind of unprofessionalism and idiotic managing?

 

As long as people keep living in the past; Gardy's won division titles, manager of the year, blah, blah,blah.

 

And it IS about him. Same goes for his forays onto the field to get tossed over calls.

[nicksaviking]

When Gardenhire replaced TK, people said he was a good fit because he had more patience with all the young players that populated the roster and TK was famously unhappy with the mistakes and shenanigans associated with young men. Things might be coming full circle, though Gardenhire doesn't seemed inclince to step down as TK did.

[Mr. Ed]

Things might be coming full circle, though Gardenhire doesn't seemed inclince to step down as TK did.

 

Just don't extend him. Problem solved

 

Steinbach/Dougie baseball as mgr for the future!

[Aaron Cross]

Gardenhire has the arrogance of a manager who's got a couple world series titles under his belt. He thinks he deserves to be held in that elite company. Its preposterous. Really, what has he done? A few division champs in mediocre divisions, and playoff FUTILITY.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

I just watched the replay of the JA Happ play in Toronto last night--I think we need to take it down a notch--good thing Happ appears to be OK...

 

Having read the comments I think the emphasis is wrong. Hicks is obviously trying to be a MLB player and struggling--there is only one answer--he needs to spend a couple of months in Rochester and get his head together and get over the struggles at the plate which he has carried into the field. If Mastro is hurt, bring up Benson until Mastro is healthy.

 

Not sure whether Hicks is a long-term OF with the Twins or not--but he needs to spend time at AAA. Gardy actions are irrelevant.

[cmathewson]

Having read the comments I think the emphasis is wrong. Hicks is obviously trying to be a MLB player and struggling--there is only one answer--he needs to spend a couple of months in Rochester and get his head together and get over the struggles at the plate which he has carried into the field. If Mastro is hurt, bring up Benson until Mastro is healthy.

 

Not sure whether Hicks is a long-term OF with the Twins or not--but he needs to spend time at AAA. Gardy actions are irrelevant.

 

I'm not so sure, Rochester might be the best thing for him. It worked for Hunter and Santana. But it seems a little early to send him down.

 

I think Hicks' demeanor is what people often misinterpret. He is more like Span than Revere. Revere is just a high-energy, ADD, happy-go-lucky kid. Even when he took horrible routes on balls and made rookie mistakes, people gave him credit for trying.

 

Span was cool and collected. Almost calm. After he made some amazing plays with his long, smooth strides, few questioned his hustle. Hicks has long strides. And he makes most of the plays Span made. Span missed several plays near the wall that Hicks missed last night. Thing is, most guys never even get there, so it's tough to judge them when they fail to make the catch.

 

Anyway, I don't think it's a head game, unless you're talking about Gardy playing head games with him. I don't think it's hustle. I think it's just a tougher league and he needs to learn it. He needs to learn to read balls off the end of the bat better. The question is whether he can learn that better in Rochester or Minnesota. I'm not so sure.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Here's my question and I've addressed it with two people who umpire baseball: If Dozier drops the ball after the flip, is the batter out or safe?

 

One said since there was no transfer from ball to hand that Dozier should be created with the putout and if the ball drops the runner is safe.

 

One said that he's not sure how he would call it.

 

So I've heard both ways on it. If it's definitely a catch, Gardy should cool his jets. I'm not sure it is and, because of that, I can see why he was irritated. I do agree, though, it was overblown by the FSN crew.