DETROIT — By the time rain postponed the Yankees-Tigers game Wednesday night at Comerica Park, the Yankees’ magic number to clinch the American League East stood at nine. To secure a playoff spot? Seven.
To bring a convincingly healthy team into October? Zero. As in there’s zero chance of it happening.
The bell tolled on that hope Wednesday with the news (broken by The Post’s Joel Sherman) that Aaron Hicks’ visit to Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache resulted in the decision to rest Hicks’ ailing right elbow for a few more weeks before feeling compelled to do something more drastic like Tommy John surgery. Regardless, Hicks’ 2019 has almost certainly concluded.
“The clock’s against him now,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Hicks’ seven-year, $70 million contract is off to quite an inauspicious start — he played in just 59 games, between a serious back injury and this serious elbow condition — all the more so if the beginning to 2020 gets compromised by a TJ procedure. For the moment, however, let’s focus on the bigger picture and the shorter term:
These 2019 Yankees caught the injury bug all the way back in the 2018 AL Division Series, when Didi Gregorius severely hurt his right elbow, and they never really shook it. In order for them to halt their horrifying, 10-year drought without a championship, they must do so with a compromised roster.
The Hicks news, which became a fait accompli from the moment he tried to throw last week and still felt discomfort, stings especially when you consider its multiple ramifications: It removes the only switch hitter from the Yankees’ lineup.
It takes away an outstanding defender from the middle of the diamond and, by forcing Brett Gardner to slide over from left field, weakens two positions, as Giancarlo Stanton and Cameron Maybin can’t match Gardner’s fielding prowess in the corner.
It increases the onus on Gardner, who has enjoyed a renaissance at 36 but, because he’s 36, generates concerns of his tank running low.
With Hicks and Miguel Andujar done for the season, that’s two envisioned regulars gone. Then throw in Mike Tauchman, who helped cover for the extended absences of Hicks and Stanton.
Just for completion’s sake, don’t forget Greg Bird hit a home run on Opening Day before vanishing, Troy Tulowitzki retired and Jacoby Ellsbury never even made it to “baseball activities” in Tampa.