Thu 5/1/14 1:00 AM

Brandon Hicks hit a second inning solo homer off Robbie Erlin in a 3-2 win against the Padres on Wednesday. The infielder struck out in his three other at-bats, but swinging and missing is a part of his game. What has impressed in the early going is his pop. Hicks has homered in three of his past four games to push his slugging percentage to .508 and his OPS to .851. The 28-year-old will continue to provide cheap NL-only value while Marco Scutaro is shelved.