LOS ANGELES — One of the adjustments Jordan Hicks made to revving his fastball and reviving his place as a late-inning option for the Cardinals was to start playing catch at a higher velocity, believing he needed to practice at the same pace he pitched.
First, he had to find someone willing to catch 100 mph throws.
The bullpen offered an option: closer Ryan Helsley.
“Fireball to fireball,†veteran Chris Stratton called it.
“He throws 100, I throw 100, and no one else has to worry about doing it,†Hicks said. “We kind of give each other our own medicine.â€
After starting the trip looking for low-leverage spots to work in, Hicks finished it with a high-leverage appearance in the Cardinals 1-0 loss Saturday at Dodger Stadium. With two on and two outs, Hicks started ahead in the count, 0-1, when Mookie Betts was called for a pitch timer violation. Hicks then froze the former MVP with two sinkers, at 103.1 mph and 103.3 mph. Hicks’ shift to the first-base side of the pitching rubber has changed the angle of his fastball for right-handed batters, as Betts watched.
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Hicks also flipped his grip on his slider, moving the laces to the other side and back into the same position he had in 2019 for the pitch. He’s also throwing it harder, shifting up from hovering around 85 mph to releasing it at 87 mph to 90 mph.
And, the right-hander no longer is easing into his daily throws as if testing the health or strength of his arm. He’s using the daily catch with a colleague to let it rip.
“It’s like might has well go practice how you play,†Hicks said. “If I’m going to throw hard in the game, I’m going to need to be practicing that.â€
Helsley was willing to lend a hand, a well-protected hand.
“Hope you catch it in the pocket, not the palm,†Helsley said. “It’s definitely not fun most days, especially when he’s feeling good because he lets it eat. It would definitely be a fun game of burnout if it ever came down to that.â€
For the first time since 2019, Hicks is averaging more than 100 mph on his fastball. It’s up to 100.9 mph this season, and his slider is up from 84.8 mph in 2022 to 87.5 mph so far. In his five appearances since the Cardinals urged him to try some adjustments and discussed where he fit in the bullpen and on the roster, Hicks has 14 strikeouts in 5⅔ innings. The one run he allowed was unearned. He had one walk and nine strikeouts in 3⅔ innings on the trip. Hicks said he had to “remember who I was,†and did.
And, the 100-mph catch club continues.
Helsley said if Hicks’ sinker moves too much, he makes the decision to not even try and catch the velocity. They’ve been catch partners before, so Helsley has familiarity with the movement, and when it comes to Hicks increasing the temp of his catch, Helsley has that experience at his fingertips, too.
“I guess, at the end of the day, if he really gets mad enough,†Stratton said, “he’s the one who can deliver it back the same speed.â€
Wainwrights positions himself for return
In his third and likely final rehab start, Adam Wainwright struck out nine and allowed four runs in 5â…” innings for Class AAA Memphis on Sunday in Durham, N.C.
Wainwright’s assignment was to throw around 90 pitches and see how he recovers Monday, about five weeks removed from suffering the strain near his groin that put him on the injured list. Wainwright got to 89 pitches with the Triple-A Redbirds, and if he feels strong coming back from the extended workload will be considered for a start this weekend against Detroit at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright threw a 10-pitch first inning and then got an eight-run welcome gift from the Memphis Redbirds in the top of the second inning.
He allowed three in the bottom of the inning and saw his pitch count start to climb after the early efficiency. Durham got four runs on seven hits and a walk against Wainwright. With the hearty lead he stuck to the strike zone with 61 of his 89 pitches. He struck out the final batter he faced on a curveball that dropped the Class AAA hitter to his back knee.
Memphis won 10-9, and Juan Yepez had three RBIs.
Marmol: Can the pitcher get a timeout?
After a month of Major League Baseball’s most significant set of rule changes since the designated hitter (or maybe the most ever), teams already are, in real time, adjusting to the pitch clock and finding ways to toe the line on the outlawed defensive shifts. One tweak Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said he might make is giving the pitcher the same power the hitter has when the bases are empty.
Every hitter can call a timeout once in an at-bat. With the bases empty, the pitcher does not have any way to do that. The clock keeps ticking until an automatic ball is assessed.
With runners on, the pitcher can leave the pitching rubber to reset the clock.
“There are times when the batter has every opportunity to disengage once per at-bat to gather himself, but the pitcher doesn’t really have a way of doing that without a runner on,†Marmol said. “Which no runner on, it’s a ball. You have to pitch before it hits zero. There is no way of stepping off, taking a breath, and getting back on.â€
A World Series winner as a player and the big, booming voice of summer as a broadcaster, ºüÀêÊÓƵ native spent more than 50 years as a champion of Cardinals and baseball.