Aaron Hicks hits long home run, is off to good start

TAMPA, Fla. — Look who’s gotten off to a decent start.  

Aaron Hicks, whose standing with Yankees fans reached an all-time low last season but who remains the favorite to be the Opening Day starter in leftfield, started in centerfield Saturday and went 1-for-2 in a 14-10 loss to the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.

The one hit was a long home run to right that completely left the ballpark off righthander Evan McKendry on a 1-and-0 cutter in the second inning.

“I just feel like I’m seeing the ball well,” said Hicks, who is 3-for-10 with a homer in four games.

Hicks, whom the Yankees unsuccessfully tried to trade during the offseason, has three years remaining on the seven-year, $70 million extension he signed in February 2019.

“It’s a new season, that’s what you focus on,” said the switch hitter, who batted .216 with eight homers and a .642 OPS in 2022. “I just have to have a good spring training. Have a good spring training, play solid defense and pretty much make it to the point where I’m in there every single day and we never have to talk about this [who will start in left] again.”

Hicks laughed when he said the last part, likely knowing better.

King of his court

Righthander Michael King, one of the game’s best relievers when his 2022 season ended in late July because of a fractured elbow, was ridiculously dominant in his first outing Friday night, striking out four of six batters in two innings against the Tigers.

“A game is definitely different than a live BP, so I was itching to get back out there,” King said Saturday morning. “Mechanically, everything feels synced up. Health-wise, everything feels great. The movement of my pitches [wasn’t] as good as in my bullpens, and then as soon as I started getting my hands sped up in the game, it came right back. So I was happy to see that.”

Extra bases

Aaron Judge, who could play  leftfield at Yankee Stadium at times this season as a way to play Giancarlo Stanton in the Stadium’s smaller rightfield in the same games, worked out a bit more extensively in left Saturday morning. Aaron Boone said he plans to play Judge in left in an exhibition game at some point in the upcoming week . . . Rafael Ortega, 31, an under-the-radar lefthanded-hitting outfielder who came into camp accompanied by quite a bit of intrigue on the part of some members of the coaching staff, hit his second exhibition homer  Saturday. He is 3-for-8 with two homers, a triple and two walks in four games.