Minnesota Twins will be patient with Aaron Hicks

Apr 5, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks (32) fouls a ball off his leg in the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles on Opening Day at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles defeated the Twins 9 – 5. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Not the start everyone was hoping for.

Minnesota Twins starting center fielder Aaron Hicks has a statline of .059/.158/.217 with eight strikeouts in the first four games of the regular season, but the team isn’t concerned just yet.

General manager Terry Ryan suggested the club will be patient with the 20-year-old Hicks despite early struggles, according to Phil Mackey and Brandon Warne of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.

Hicks batted .349/.407/1.051 with 16 strikeouts in the 22 Spring Training games prior to the start of the regular season. With eight strikeouts in the just four games to start the year compared to 16 in 22 games in Spring Training, Hicks may be a little too anxious at the plate and will need to calm down moving forward.

This is what Hicks had to say about his first career hit following the team’s 8-2 win against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday:

"“It felt amazing,” Hicks said via MLB.com. “It just seems like I was too anxious out there. I was swinging at stuff out of the zone. So it was a big situation to get that first hit and it takes the pressure off.”"

Hicks himself admits he is anxious at the plate, but hopefully a few more hits and walks will calm him down a bit.