The Giants will sign Jordan Hicks.
A four-year, $44MM deal has been reached between the Giants and free-market right-hander Jordan Hicks. This was reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan also says that Hicks will start for the Giants instead of coming in as a substitute.
According to Susan Slusser for the San Francisco Chronicle, Hicks, who is managed by the Ballengee Group, can make an extra $2MM a year based on the number of games he pitches. She also says that those benefits start to work after 100 innings.
Moving back into the mix is a surprise, but the 27-year-old flamethrower will be used to this role. Before making his appearance in the Cardinals’ bullpen in 2018, Hicks worked to be a starter within the minor leagues. Early in the 2022 season, St. Louis tried moving him back into the rotation for a short time.
That didn’t work out—he gave up 16 runs to 24 2/3 innings before being moved back to the relief role—but the Giants are going to attempt to make the most of Hicks’ powerful arsenal from their lineup.
Kevin Gausman is one pitcher that the Giants have helped break out, and it’s clear that Hicks has the kind of raw stuff that would make clubs want to sign him for a bigger part.
Hicks is one of the fastest bowlers in the league. His four-seamer has averaged 100.8 mph and his two-seamer has averaged 100.2 mph so far in his career. He has reached a top speed of 105 mph, which is almost funny.
The former third-round pick has a fastball that he pairs with a slider that sits at 86.5 mph. He has also thrown “changeups” in the past, which are 91.8 mph in total.
Hicks has always seemed like a professional pitcher who would get a lot of attention, even though he doesn’t have a great track record, because he entered the free agent market at an unusually young age and has a very strong raw ability.
MLBTR put him at number 21 on our list of the Top 50 Free Agents, saying that a club would offer him a four-year, $40MM deal because they thought it could help the right-hander reach a new level.
Hicks has always been one of the most dangerous hardest-throwing pitchers in the league. If he teams up with current closer Camilo Doval, manager Bob Melvin might have one of the most dangerous back-of-the-bullpen combos ever.
Passan says that the Giants want to try Hicks as a starter, which is a job he has only played for eight games via the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022.
For Hicks’s arm strength and exciting stuff, this might be the second time that a team attempted to make him a starter. In 2022, the Cardinals put Hicks in the starting order in the middle in April, even though he hadn’t played much in 15 years.
But the Cardinals were interested in Hicks because he has a 100 MPH four-seam fastball, a sinking cutter that regularly goes over 99 MPH, and a slider that moves almost a foot horizontally.
Hicks had a 5.47 earned run average (ERA) in 24 2/3 innings as a starter. It was walks that hurt him the most—he gave up 24 free passes in those seven games.
Because he wasn’t very good and had to be careful not to hurt himself, Hicks never went over five innings, and he usually only went four innings or less per game. He was hurt after that.
After getting better from a wrist flexor strain, Hicks earned one more start in July, but this time as an opening. He threw 38 pitches over 1/3 of an inning.
Aside from being tired and having neck pain, he was also on the sick list for a while. He ended the season via 61 1/3.
They will now try Hicks as a starter yet again, but they might see him as a swingman as they did with many of their supposed starts last year.
Hicks hasn’t shown that he can handle the work of a starting pitcher, but he was often strong last year, cutting down on strikeouts and walks whilst striking out almost two more hitters per nine innings.
After the All-Star break, his walks per nine innings dropped almost in half in the first half of 2023.