Aaron Hicks well-prepared to play a big role with Yankees

Aaron Hicks went from a player who didn't even know who the day's starting pitcher was to one who preaches preparation in the offseason. He went from a minor leaguer who lost his confidence from both sides of the plate to a major-league switch hitter. And Wednesday, he went from being a Minnesota Twin to wearing pinstripes.

If he has his druthers, the evolution of Aaron Hicks, Big Leaguer isn't over yet.

"I feel confident that I can hit big-league pitching and that I'm developing into a good big-league hitter," the newest Yankee said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. "This year, I'm actually working on just being a more aggressive hitter . . . I want to get better in my preparation as far as getting ready for pitchers."

He added: "I only know one style of baseball, the Twins', and now I get to learn a new style. It's exciting and fun."

The Yankees traded backup catcher John Ryan Murphy for Hicks, and immediately expressed confidence that the 26-year-old outfielder could be a key cog in the team's youth movement. General manager Brian Cashman said that, for now, Hicks would replace fourth outfielder Chris Young, a free agent. But he said it didn't have to stop there.

"We think Aaron Hicks is an everyday player," he said.

That suits Hicks just fine, though he repeated over and over that he would do anything, and play any role, the Yankees asked of him.

"It feels good," he said. "The team that traded for me has a lot of confidence in me."

Hicks showed significant progress in 2015 -- something that he credited to the tutelage of now-retired teammate Torii Hunter. He went from a slash line of .215/.341/.274 in 69 games in 2014 to .256/.323./.398 in 97 games last season. Hicks hit 11 home runs and stole 13 bases. He added a leg kick to his swing to help with his timing and "just got more comfortable with the surroundings of being in the big leagues and being able to just enjoy playing baseball and not worry about going back to Triple A," he said.

Hicks already seems adept at taking criticism and learning from it, rather than being crushed by it.

When he heard executives in the Twins organization were lamenting his lack of preparation -- he was said to not know the starting pitcher on a given day, and never denied it -- he simply changed his approach.

"It made me realize how much preparation [you need] to be successful in the big leagues," he said. "If you don't know who the starting pitcher is, it's kind of tough to prepare for it. I think it made me a stronger player, a better player."

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.