Putting Aaron Hicks in Perspective

Aaron Hicks is a batting average eating goblin. This would be a common refrain among Twins fans if “batting average eating goblin” was common baseball lingo. We should probably work on making that happen.

More importantly, we should put Hicks’s numbers into a little perspective. His astronomically, historically, atrociously low batting average, is astronomical, historic and atrocious, but let us free our minds a bit. The numbers I’m about to explore are not going to get good, I will grant you that, but perhaps they will make you feel better.

With a batting average of .073, you can’t expect much out of a man’s OBP, so when you consider that Hicks has an OBP of .224, which is .150 points higher than his batting average, you have to give the dude a little credit. Bro knows how to take a walk. Granted, nobody here wants a speedy centerfielder leading off with a .224 OBP, but can I remind you that his BATTING AVERAGE IS .073!

The most logical player to compare Hicks to is Ben Revere--even though there are probably people out there who say things like, “Well if the Twins had drafted Mike Trout they would have Mike Trout in centerfield so you should compare him to Mike Trout.”

First of all, stop using his full name you weirdo. Second of all, that’s a dumb theory so I am going to ignore you.

Had the Twins not traded Revere this offseason, he would have been the centerfielder. That seemed like the most likely scenario. You could argue that I should be comparing Hicks to Denard Span as well, but I think it was pretty much agreed upon that Span would be traded so I am not going to do that. Question me accordingly.

That said, how do Hicks and Revere compare?

.073/.224/.073

.207/.242/.230

It’s pretty obvious from that .073 which fella is the owner of which stat line, but both are pretty freaking bad.

As speed guys, OBP is the most important number in the slash line, and notice how negligible the difference is. Now notice that Revere is also batting .207 and not driving the ball (which is basically a given, of course). Hicks is getting on base at a similar clip to Revere, and the dude looks like he’s never even been to a piñata party, let alone swung a bat in a Major League Baseball game.

Hicks has never been this bad. He can hit. He never had a great batting average in the minors, but there is no question among scouts that he can hit. He isn’t going to hit .073 forever, and even if he hits .230 this year, that has to give you a little hope for the future considering he is nearly 100 at bats in and his BATTING AVERAGE IS .073!

Point being, aside from Revere’s spectacular catch the other night, and his irresistible boyish grin, I would much rather have Hicks and Vance Worley right now. Even with that .073 BATTING AVERAGE!

Plus, Hicks has clearly established himself as a guy whose OBP is .150 higher than his average, so if he ever hits .300+, he’ll have an OBP of almost .500. Because that’s how math works, dammit.