Unconventional Approach Led to Breakout Season for San Francisco Giants' Pitcher

The San Francisco Giants breakout pitcher had an unconventional approach to becoming a starter.

Dylan Sanders | May 7, 2024

Apr 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Jordan Hicks (12) throws / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants offseason signings haven't all worked out, but one has found immediate success in his new role.

As Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer searched for information on an aspect from each team, and he thinks the one he found for the Giants has been the source of this breakout season.

Jordan Hicks signed a four-year, $44 million deal with San Francisco this past offseason with the intentions of becoming a full-time starter with the team. Given that he was a reliever for the past six years, such commitment was met with a bit of hesitation.

Well, Hicks has dominated so far in his new role with a team-leading 1.89 ERA and top-two FIP at 3.25.

What has he done to make the switch to longer outings without hurting his ability?

Throw the ball a lot slower.

No pitcher in the Majors has dropped their velocity this year more than Hicks' 4.5 MPH average decline. In fact, per Rymer, no other pitcher has dropped more than 4 MPH.

He has heavily increased the amount that he has thrown his splitter this season and is only throwing it around 86 MPH. It was barely thrown previously, and when it was, the velocity was closer to 92 MPH.

That new pitch has become his second-most valuable weapon, behind his dominant sinker which has also dropped from around 100 to 96 MPH.

Not only are the pitches slower, allowing his arm to relax, but they're more effective than ever. He's seen a 7% drop in home runs hit per fastball thrown and is also causing batters to swing more.

He's become less reliant on strikeouts while also becoming one of the most effective groundball pitchers in the league.

Hicks has answered the call as a starting pitcher and is making the Giants' front office look wise for taking this chance.

Published May 7, 2024

DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders