What's it Like Facing Jordan Hicks and His 100 MPH Fastball?

A few Blue Jays weigh in on what makes new Toronto reliever Jordan Hicks particularly nasty.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Facing Jordan Hicks is no easy task.

With a 103 MPH sinker and a wide-breaking slider, the new Blue Jays reliever has held opponents to a measly .208 batting average during his career. Getting a homer against him? Don't even dream about it — that's only happened 11 times in five years.

But, a lot of modern relievers throw hard and still get hit hard. To find out what makes Hicks particularly nasty, I asked the Blue Jays who've faced him most:

3B Matt Chapman (1/3, 2BB, 0K)

Chapman groups Hicks in with an exclusive tier: the guys who throw 100 with movement.

Hicks' diving sinker is right there with Guardians closer Emmanual Clase's 100 MPH cutter and Baltimore reliever Felix Bautista's fiery 'rise ball'. 

When pitchers throw that hard, with that much movement, Chapman's main objective is to make sure he can get his swing started as early as possible and shrink the zone. The Toronto third baseman has put a few balls in play against Hicks, but mainly he's challenged the reliever to strike him out.

 "Make him throw three strikes before four balls," Chapman said. "If he makes his pitches, chances are you're not going to be very successful, right?"

If Hicks has one weakness it's control. The righty has a walk rate north of 13.2% for his career (8.5% is league average) and Chapman's managed to earn a pair of free passes off him. Chapman's selective approach is especially relevant when Hicks throws his slider, which comes in 15 MPH slower than his heaters. For the breaking pitch: "Just hope it's a ball," Chapman said.

OF Daulton Varsho (0/1, 2BB, 1K)

For Varsho, the biggest challenge of facing Hicks isn't velocity but the movement on his signature pitch.

From the release point, Hicks' sinker moves 18.5 inches down and 15.5 to the arm side. No other pitcher in baseball averages more collective movement on a pitch harder than 99 MPH. The diving action on his sinker is what earns Hicks a career ground-ball rate of over 60%.

"He's a fascinating dude," Varsho said. "Because he'll just like throw 104 but it's like a bowling ball at the same time."

Varsho's main power comes from catching balls out in front and pulling them into deep right field. Against Hicks' heater, that's not in play. Like Chapman, Varsho's approach has been to squeeze Hicks into the zone and hack a fastball into play, if one's there to hit. For Varsho, that hittable ball has yet to come.

C Danny Jansen (1/2, 1HR, 0BB, 0K)

The few times Jansen's faced Hicks the at-bats have been terribly uncomfortable, the backstop said. It's no secret Jansen is a pull hitter, so Hicks' ability to spot his sinker to both the inside and outside half of the plate is what challenged him.

But, someway, somehow, Jansen earned his way into the rare club of hitting a homer off the former Cardinals reliever — accounting for 9% of the HR Hicks has allowed his career.

Danny Jansen (4)

Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher: Jordan Hicks
Date: 5/24/22 pic.twitter.com/2YbW9biDiq

— TOR Home Runs (@TOR__HR) February 18, 2023

Does Jansen just see Hicks' delivery well? Did he guess right on a pitch? Nope, it was a bad pitch and some good luck.

"He just happen to throw a slider in the only place I could get to it, up and in," Jansen said.

Jansen was geared up for the fastball and Hicks just happen to hang a slider on the inside corner of the plate — right where Jansen likes 'em. The Toronto catcher turned on the pitch, still a bit early in preparation for the fastball, and yanked the ball deep down the left-field line for a homer.

"If it was on the outer half, he probably would've got me," Jansen said.