Remember when Jordan Hicks enjoyed a fast start in the San Francisco Giants starting rotation?
Remember when the Cardinals were widely mocked for not giving Hicks that same chance to start again?
Yeah, those were good times.
Hicks looked like a real bargain for the Giants after arriving with a four-year, $44 million free-agent contract. That is a big chunk of money for a reliever, but moderate money for a starter.
In his first six starts, Hicks was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA. The secret, the Giants said, was having Hicks take a few miles per hour off his fastball and get outs with his sinker.
Why didn’t the Cardinals think of that? What are they, stupid?      Â
Alas, the good times did not last. Hicks posted a 3.99 ERA in May, a 5.24 ERA in June and an 8.40 ERA before moving to the bullpen. He found himself having to dig deeper to find his usual velocity,
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“I feel like most of my outings have been creeping up like almost every pitch,†Hicks said. “I wish I could just come out there and be 97 [mph] from the jump. But it’s hard right now. A lot of innings. I think overall that’s what it was. I remember the first three, four or five starts, 97 was pretty easy. If I wanted it, watching video, it didn’t look like I was trying really hard to go get it. '
"Now I feel like I have to move faster, which is fine. It’s just different mechanically.â€
Hicks' struggle with shoulder soreness persisted and he finally hit the wall. This week he landed on the 15-day injured list.
“He's had some shoulder stuff going on,†Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “It just hasn't really responded since he's been in the bullpen. He'd pitch a game, and then the next day it's a little stiff and (he's) not available. It just got to a point where we need to get it right.
“It's going to take an IL stint probably to get it completely right. Hopefully after that, he feels a lot better. He's been kind of dealing with this for a little while now.â€
Hicks’ failure to hold up as a starting pitcher added to San Francisco starting pitching woes. The Giants struggled to maintain a consistent rotation this season and the loss of Robbie Ray to a hamstring strain this week created a critical scenario.
It will be interesting to see what the Giants do with Hicks next season. Will he take another stab at starting with a full offseason of training or will he concede that his best role is in relief?
TALKIN’ BASEBALL
Here is what folks are writing about Our National Pastime:
Jeff Passan, : “There are ultimately at most a handful of spenders for the biggest free agents. In Soto's case, the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and both Los Angeles teams could likely afford him but are long shots to make a real push. Seattle could use him but will be scared off by the money. At the end of the day, high-ranking front office and ownership-level sources believe the winter for Soto is going to play out like this: Yankees vs. Mets. Behemoth vs. behemoth.The most enthralling free agency battle imaginable. The Yankees cannot lose Soto. If they win their first championship since 2009, they can't possibly let him go, and if they lose early in the postseason they'll panic about how much worse it would be without him. Yet there stand the Mets, themselves in need of a middle-of-the-order bat, owned by a man in Steve Cohen who understands data better than any of his peers. And the data says that once a player hits 30, his career will likely regress. So to get a superstar for four full seasons before he turns 30 -- and do it without having to give up players in a trade -- makes him the consummate Mets target.”
Nathan Graham, Baseball Prospectus: “No player has done more this season to improve their status than (Quinn) Mathews. The former Stanford ace has gone from being an advanced college arm overmatching younger FSL hitters to arguably the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball in just a few months. The Cardinals leaned heavily on veteran pitching in 2024 with mixed results. If they decide to not pick up the option on either Lance Lynn or Kyle Gibson this offseason, Mathews could be in contention for a rotation spot next spring.â€
Dan Szymborski, FanGraphs: “The Reds didn’t struggle this season because they were unlucky; rather, they did so because they were a roughly .500 team in terms of talent and didn’t get lucky. The path forward, then, is for ownership and the front office to recognize this so they can work to improve the team in the offseason instead of staying the course again and hoping for better results. One part of this year’s plan — relying on the young talent — was justified and is worth doing again next season, as long as the Reds reinforce their core with more impactful veterans. Looking at the projections for 2025 now versus where they were six months ago, the Reds have lost a few wins, but their foundation is still quite solid.â€
Matt Snyder, : “The American League Central is ready for its close-up and three teams deserve the spotlight. In fact, three teams are tracking toward making the playoffs from a division that many people believed was the weakest in baseball heading into the season. Even the fourth-place team is hovering close to .500. Sure, there's one historically bad team that is somewhat propping up the others, but the Guardians, Royals and Twins are legitimate contenders for the American League pennant. The Guardians have had control of this thing from nearly the start of the season. They've only trailed in the race for six days and they never trailed more than a game and a half. They haven't been out of first place since before the action started on Sunday, April 14. They grew the lead to as high as nine games, but the Twins and Royals have been so good that the Guardians just can't shake free. That last sentence is accurate in framing the Royals and Twins as quality competitors, but we do need further context on the Guardians possibly blowing a nine-game lead. They've only been a game over .500 since the start of June. Since June 25, the Guardians have gone 24-29. Now, they banked enough of a cushion to keep them in first place, but they probably need to start playing like it's April or May in order to hold onto this lead. Starting right now.”
Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, : “(Jurickson) Profar's is one of the latest blooms we've seen in recent memory, and given that there was no indication it was coming, there was no projecting it. The thing is, he's been swinging at the right pitches all along -- he's ranked in the 70th percentile or higher in both chase and whiff rate every year since 2021. But swinging at the right pitch is one thing, and making good contact against it is another. Speaking of which, Profar's current average exit velocity is 90.7 mph, an enormous improvement from his career average of 87.3 mph.”
Gabe Lacques, USA Today: “They exude veteran cool and always act like they’ve been there before because, goodness, they most certainly have. Reach seven consecutive American League Championship Series and win a pair of World Series in that span and yes, the Houston Astros have earned every benefit of the doubt, every expectation that since they have so much respect for the grind of a 162-game season, that their desired outcome will await them in the end. And as summer creeps toward autumn, there they go again: A 70-60 record, a 4 ½-game lead in the AL West, a nearly 90% chance of making the playoffs, and a 63-41 rally that inspired their chief competition to fire their manager.â€
Jake Mintz, Yahoo! Sports: “The substandard South Siders keep making history. With their 9-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, the Chicago White Sox reached the oh-so-horrible 100-loss plateau. Well, ‘100-loss abyss’ is probably a more apt description. Each loss is a powerful reminder that this organization is in a dark and gloomy place.The Sox, whose 21-game losing streak made national headlines earlier this month, are on pace to finish the season 38-124. That would break the modern-era record for losses ‘held’ by the 1962 Mets, a club that lost 120 games in the franchise’s first season.â€
MEGAPHONE
“This is a special place. Boston’s one of the best places to play in the league, if not the best, just because of the ballpark. But it’s really what the fans bring to the game, because you get that immediate feedback. When you get to play at the highest level, that’s what you want. You want to get that feedback.â€
900-year-old Rich Hill, on making his latest comeback with the Boston Red Sox.