Hicks has been out of the Yankees lineup since March 2nd and although he’s begun to make strides towards a full recovery there’s no way he’s going to be ready to play on Opening Day. He thought he’d be back for the second series of the season starting April 4th but with less than a week to go until the opener he still hasn’t played in a game.
Since he suffered the injury relatively early in spring training the Yankees don’t need to rush him back for the first week of the season. That’s why the team plans on being conservative with Hicks so the back injury doesn’t linger and lead to something worse.