Report: SF Giants land former Cardinals, Blue Jays flamethrower on $44 million deal

The SF Giants signed former St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays reliever Jordan Hicks, but as a starting pitcher.

The SF Giants have agreed to a four-year, $44 million contract with hard-throwing right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks, according to a report by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Hicks has long been one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the league and could potentially give manager Bob Melvin one of the most lethal back-of-the-bullpen combinations when paired with incumbent closer Camilo Doval. But according to Passan, the Giants plan to try Hicks as a starter, a role he's only tried for eight starts with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022.

This would be the second time a team has tried to convert Hicks to a starter, to take advantage of his arm power and electric stuff. In 2022, the Cardinals moved Hicks into the starting rotation in the middle of April, even after he'd missed most of the past two-and-a-half seasons. But the Cardinals were tempted by the prospect of getting more innings from Hicks and his 100 MPH four-seam fastball, a sinker that routines exceeds 99 MPH, and a slider that moves nearly a foot horizontally. 

As a starter, Hicks pitched to a 5.47 ERA in 24 2/3 innings. His biggest problem was walks, giving out 24 free passes in that seven-game stretch. As a result of his moderate performance and some injury caution, Hicks never exceeded five innings, averaging under four innings per appearance. Then he got hurt.

After recovering from a forearm flexor strain, Hicks made one more start in July, but as an opener, throwing 38 pitches in  1/23 innings. He also spent time on the injured list with fatigue and neck spasms, and finished the season with 61 1/3.

Now the Giants will try Hicks as a starter again, but they may be imagining him in the swingman role that they used for many of their nominal starters last year. Hicks hasn't proved he can sustain a starting pitcher's workload, but he was often dominant last year, cutting his rates of home runs and walks while striking out nearly two more batters per nine innings. In the second half of 2023, his walks-per-nine innings nearly halved after the All-Star break.

Perhaps Hicks struggles as a regular starter, but in 3-4 inning stretches where he can throw at maximum effort as a tandem starter, he could be very effective. Perhaps the opportunity to start is what made Hicks choose the Giants over other teams in the first place.

It's definitely risky to give four-year deal to a player after his first truly healthy season since 2018, but having watched Farhan Zaidi for years, we know he loves gambling on an injured pitcher to turn it around. And if it doesn't work as a starter, Hicks could potentially be one of the league's most effective 7th- or 8th-inning arms ahead of Doval.

What are the implications of this signing? Hicks is an extreme ground-ball pitcher, so it could signal that the Giants plan to upgrade their infield defense - particularly after they failed to reach a pre-arbitration deal with incumbent third baseman J.D. Davis. It could also make Doval expendable, with Hicks in the wings to step in at closer, should the Giants get a tempting offer for their young reliever.

St. Louis selected Hicks in the third round of the 2015 MLB draft. He reached the majors in 2018, where he logged a 3.59 ERA in 77.2 innings and threw the fastest strike in MLB history - at least in the Statcast era. 

By 2019 he was the Cardinals' closer. Hicks logged 14 saves in 15 attempts, striking out 31 batters in 28.2 innings, before Tommy John surgery ended his season in June. He didn't pitch at all in the shortened 2020 season due to rehabilitation and health concerns (Hicks is a type-1 diabetic), then threw only ten innings in an injury-marred 2021.

After he assumed the closer role in mid-June, where Hicks saved eight games in nine opportunities, the rebuilding Cardinals traded Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays at midseason last year, where he got even better. Overall, Hicks struck out 81 batters in 65.2 innings,

Now he'll join a Giants rotation headlined by Logan Webb, with injured starters Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb returning in the middle of the season. At least for now, Hicks is a member of the rotation, though the return of Ray or Cobb could push him to the bullpen.

It's a high-risk, high-reward proposition for the Giants and Hicks. If he stays healthy, the Giants could be looking at a very solid rotation, or a dominant late-inning bullpen with Hicks joining Doval and the Rogers twins.

But you can tell the Giants believe in Hicks. After all, he doesn't even have a player option.