Tag: Aaron Hicks

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Aaron Hicks

New Britain switch-hitting outfielder Aaron Hicks is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for June 30-July 6. Hicks, 23, batted .381 (8-for-21) with one double, one triple, one home run, two RBI and six runs scored in six games for the Rock Cats. The athletic Hicks was drafted out of high school by the Twins in the first round (14th overall) in the 2008 First-Year Player draft. Prior to the Twins drafting Hicks, a number of teams saw Hicks more as a pitching prospect than as an outfielder.

In his fifth season of pro ball Hicks has a career average of .266 with 29 home runs and 78 stolen bases but he has also been caught stealing 35 times. In 75 games and 312 plate appearances in New Britain this season, Hicks has 8 home runs with 18 of 26 stolen bases and has a .264 batting average but he has struck out 72 times. Hicks remains one of the Twins top prospects.

Arizona Fall League 2011

August 31, 2011 – The league begins its 20th season on Tuesday, October 4. The six-team league plays six days per week (Monday-Saturday) in six Cactus League stadiums in the Phoenix area. Salt River Fields at Talking Stick has been added as the new home of the Rafters in 2011, joining Mesa Hohokam Stadium (Solar Sox), Peoria Sports Complex (Javelinas), Phoenix Municipal Stadium (Desert Dogs), Scottsdale Stadium (Scorpi­ons) and Surprise Stadium (Saguaros) as the league venues. Twins players joining the Mesa Solar Sox this year will be: pitchers Cole DeVries, Scott Diamond, Bruce Pugh and Brett Jacobson; Catcher: Chris Herrmann; Infielder: Brian Dozier; Outfielder: Aaron Hicks.

Just another day of practice

March 18, 2009 – I was out watching the Twins practice on Tuesday and to be honest there was not a lot of the regulars around, most of them had gone on down the road to City of Palms Park to play the Red Sox. But Gardy was around and he and Tom Kelly were out on one of the back fields hitting ground balls to Nick Punto who would field the ball and throw to Matt Tolbert who was learning to play 1B under the tutelage of TK. They worked Punto and Tolbert pretty hard and they were very positive with their comments but when it was all done, Tolbert mush have asked for an assessment of how he did at first and TK didn’t mince words when he said that he did OK but he still had a long ways to go to make all the plays and to play 1B the way it should be played, typical TK. I don’t think TK does it to be mean, he just tells it how it is.

I am surprised at how TK tries to interact with the fans that watch practice by joking with them and just talking to them. He asked one of the kids that were watching, maybe an 8 or 9 year old to join him on the field during the practice and when the boy walked up to him, TK asked how many of these baseballs laying here on the ground here at 1B can you pick up? The little boy was pretty shy and kind of indicated he didn’t know so TK said, pick up as many as you can and carry them over to Gardy over there. The little boy picked up about 6 balls and did as he was asked and when he got back to TK, he is told to grab another armful and again deliver them to Gardy. When the little boy comes back again, TK asks, are you good for one more trip? Again the little boy carries more baseballs over to Gardy. Apparently bored, the little boy then decides that he has had enough and walks off the field, without a baseball. I would have thought that for all that work he could have at least gotten a practice baseball; I guess you have to learn at a young age that life is not fair.

As Gardy walked off the field he stopped for some pictures and autographs and chatted with the fans, in no apparent rush. I got a good picture of Gardy that I will put on my picture site soon. After he finished up with everyone I walked with Gardy as he was leaving and I asked him if he could tell me who had surprised him with their play this spring. He said that Danny Valencia was hitting very well and had caught his eye and he said that outfielder Dustin Martin had played very well and was really running around out there before he hurt his shoulder here recently. Then Gardy said he had to hustle and get over to City of Palms to play the Sox.

Most of the AA and AAA players had gone to Port Charlotte to play Rays teams so there were not many high level minor leaguers around either. I did get a chance to watch Aaron Hicks, the Twins first round draft pick last year hit a little BP and he hit a few line drives but he is certainly not a power hitter, at least at this stage of his career. I also watched him running the bases a bit and he does appear to be very quick and pretty athletic.

2008 Twins Draft Notes

June 14, 2008 – The Twins first pick was number 14 and they used that pick to take outfielder/pitcher Aaron Hicks from Woodrow Wilson High School in California. Although the 6”2” and 170 pound Aaron has a great arm and had pitched in high school, the Twins plan to have Hicks become a position player and that fits with Aaron’s preference of playing every day. Hicks throws right handed and is a switch-hitter and would like to become a great center-fielder like Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter have been and Carlos Gomez hopes to become in the near future in the land of 10,000 lakes. Hicks is projected as a 5 tool player for Minnesota. Hicks signed with Minnesota on Friday, June 13 for a reported $1.78 million and will be reporting to the Gulf Coast league Twins. The Twins also announced that they had signed 10 other (their number 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17, 23, 27, and 39th) draft picks.

In all 52 players were chosen byt the Twins. 24 of the picks were hitters and of these 24 hitters, 13 were college players and 11 were high school players. The position breakdown for the hitters was 2 catchers, 1 first baseman, 3 second baseman, 2 shorstops, 5 third basemen, and 11 are outfielders.

28 of the picks were pitchers. 19 of these were college players and 13 throw right handed and 6 are lefties. The remaining 9 pitchers taken were high schoolers and of these 5 were right handed and 4 are lefties.

The biggest name local player drafted by the Twins is 3B Joe Loftus from Holy Angels High School but it appears that the Twins will not be able to sign Loftus unless they come up with a 6 figure bonus. Joe has committed to Vanderbilt University if he chooses not to sign with the Twins. Not all of these players will be signed but hope springs eternal each year as new blood is brought into each organization.