Last year the Yankees began the season with Brett Gardner as their main leadoff man, especially against right-handed pitchers. Gardner stuck in that spot for most of the first half but after he really struggled out of the All-Star break he was replaced by Hicks and moved to the bottom of the order.
Prior to that Hicks had spent time leading off against left-handers but for the most part, he batted anywhere from third to sixth in the order. Once he took over for Gardner he did a really solid job, but when Aaron Judge went down with an injury in late July he was moved to third in the lineup and eventually the newly acquired Andrew McCutchen took his spot batting first.