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On November 11, the Minnesota Twins traded Aaron Hicks to the New York Yankees in exchange for catcher John Ryan Murphy. Exactly three weeks later, December 2, the Twins claimed catcher John Hicks from the Seattle Mariners. The Twins needed to strengthen their catching depth in the offseason, and I guess they also wanted to keep at least one Hicks on their 40-man roster. Twins Daily was able to catch up with John Hicks at Twins Fest.2015 was an incredible season for catcher John Hicks. It was filled with ups and downs. He had a strong spring training, but he got off to a slow start. He turned it around, and he earned his first big league promotion.He got his first hits, and he saw how the game can humble a player quickly too. Following the season, he went through being designated for assignment but then being claimed by another organization. He now finds himself with the Minnesota Twins. Let’s start at those two ultimate moments for any baseball player. For those of us who will never experience it (which is most of us), can you imagine the moment when you first get told that you’re heading to the big leagues? Secondly, can you imagine getting your first major league hit? John Hicks was not expecting the moment when it came. His season started out slow, especially with the bat. “The first few months of the season were not as planned, offensively. I felt good behind the plate all year, and when I got to Tacoma and got in the box, things just didn’t click. Things didn’t come up with me from spring training, I guess.” However, in July, Hicks hit .345/.393/.436 (.830). He slowed some in August, however, Mike Zunino was really struggling in the big leagues, and the Mariners decided to send him down to AAA. In Tacoma on August 27th, Hicks was behind the plate. “We’re in the middle of the game. I’m catching. It’s about the 6th or 7th inning. (Former big leaguer) Pat Listach was our manager in AAA. A couple of innings before, he and I were talking about a hitter on the other team. The next inning, that hitter came up. We ended up striking him out, attacking him like we had talked about. So I ran into the dugout and he asked me about it. I told him. He said, ‘Awesome! Alright, well, you’re done. You’re out of the game.’” Hicks had no idea what to think about that. He did what he was supposed to do, and it was successful, so why was he taken out of the game? What was he to do? He went and sat on the bench. “People were coming up to me and saying, ‘Are you going up? Are you going up?’ And I’m like, ‘I have no idea. He just told me I was out of the game.’” Soon after, Hicks walked back over to his manager. He asked if he should head out to the bullpen to help warm up pitchers. Or do something to stop thinking so much. That’s when he got the news from Pat Listach, ““Nah, nah. I’m waiting for confirmation, but you’re going to the big leagues.” The emotion hit him right then and there in the dugout. “It kind of hit me. It was a rush of emotions, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Then he told me to go in and pack. I went in and called my parents. There’s a three-hour time difference from Tacoma to back home (Virginia), so it was like 1 o’clock at home. I think my parents were fine with me waking them up.” My guess is that they were just fine with that phone call as well. But there was a lot of packing to be done, and quickly. “I flew out to Chicago the next day. They flew out my mom and dad, my two brothers and their wives, and then a good family friend, and they all came out and watched.” A couple of days later, August 30th (one day before his 26th birthday), Hicks made his major league debut in Chicago. The opposing pitcher was Jose Quintana. He didn’t take too long to get that first big league hit out of the way. “It was exciting. I went up, and everybody asked me, ‘Are you going to be really aggressive? Are you going to swing at the first pitch?’ I didn’t really know. I said I’m just going to go up, and if it’s a good pitch that I like, I’ll swing. I got up there and took the first pitch. Then he threw me a cutter that ran in, and I stayed inside of it, and I hit kind of a soft liner over second base, in front of the right fielder. I got to first base, and the first base coach leans over my shoulder and said, ‘Hey, there’ll never be a better BB player than you are right now, hitting 1.000, one hit, one at bat.’ I’m like, ‘All lright.’ It obviously went down a little from there, but it was fun.” It was a struggle from there. He ended the season going 2-32 for the Mariners. His other hit was a double and came off of the Angels’ Jered Weaver. Following the season, Hicks was designated for assignment by the Mariners. They called him to let him know that they had about a week to try to trade him or put him on waivers. “It was a long six or seven days, waiting to hear something. Got the call from the Mariners first. He said ‘I’ve got good news and bad news.’ He said you’re no longer a Mariner, but the Twins picked you up.’ Alright! I was really excited to hear that. Got a call from the Twins, talked a little bit with them.” --------------------------------- Before we look forward, let’s look further back. John Hicks grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He attended Goochland High School where he teamed with Ben Verlander, now a minor leaguer in the Tigers organization. “He’s a couple of years younger than I am. He and I actually work out together in the offseason.” But was there any AL Central trash talking? “We spend a lot of time together working out and hitting. He was very excited for me when I got picked up by the Twins. My oldest brother and Justin (Verlander) went to high school together and they’re still really good friends. Justin and my brother went back and forth, and Justin had a few things to say about when I face him, but we’ll see.” Although he was drafted in the 31st round out of high school by the Angels in 2008, he went to the University of Virginia. He played over 60 games all three years. He hit eight home runs each season. He hit a combined 54 doubles. Following his junior season, he was the fourth round pick of the Seattle Mariners. ----------------------------------------------------- He has primarily been a catcher his whole life. “I pretty much only caught in high school. I started catching when I was 11. I had an older brother. He’s two years older and he was a pitcher, so it just kind of worked out that he needed a catcher. My first two years of college, I didn’t catch every game. When I didn’t catch, I played first base and DH.” Clearly the Twins wanted to improve their defense at the catcher position in the offseason. They let Eric Fryer leave as a free agent, traded Chris Herrmann, and DFA'd Josmil Pinto. They acquired John Ryan Murphy from the Yankees as well. Hicks has always taken a lot of pride in his defense behind the plate. “That’s always been something I took pride in, defense. If I can go out and work with that pitcher, and we can use that scouting report that we get before the game, and use that well, and we post zeroes, we’re going to win games. Whether I go 4-4 or 0-4, if we go out and win, that’s what it’s all about.” He will need to learn the pitchers, as well as gain their confidence. That doesn’t happen overnight. “That takes time. Spring training is very important. Taking the time to get to know him and know how they like to attack hitter. They need to have confidence in you that if they have a runner on third base and a hitter that’s going to chase up there that they can throw that curve ball or split or slider in the dirt and you’re going to block it for them. It should never be a doubt in their mind that you will. For me, that’s huge. If they trust me that I’m going to get it done, then we’ll get somewhere.” Hicks likely starts the season as the Twins third catcher. In other words, he is likely to start the season in Rochester. Should there be an injury to Kurt Suzuki or John Ryan Murphy, Hicks would get the call. That is an important role on a team because catcher is certainly a position where injuries can happen. They can send him up and down without needing to clear waivers, which they needed to do with Eric Fryer as he was out of options. Hicks has two option years remaining. Hicks enjoyed the Twins Fest experience for several reasons. “It’s been good. Like I said, we’re getting to know the pitchers, and the position players too. Putting the faces to the name. Getting to know them a little bit better so when we get to spring training, we can just jump into it. I think it’s huge. And, it’s fun to get out here and see the ballpark and all that.” He will be starting his trek from Virginia to Ft. Myers on the 14th. He’ll make stops in North Carolina and northern Florida before getting there in plenty of time to report. “I’m excited to be here. I think it’s a good situation to be in. I’m excited to get out in spring training and get it going.” Click here to view the article