San Francisco Giants New Leadership Must Assess Young Pitcher's Future

After transitioning to the rotation in his first year in San Francisco, is there still a future in that role for the second year Giant?

Aug 17, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jordan Hicks (12) throws a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants signed Jordan Hicks in their busy offseason in order to transition him from a reliever into a starter. There were ups and downs, and issues with workload, but in total is was a good first season of work as a starter.

With the new regime coming in, will new president of baseball operations Buster Posey and company still want to try to keep that transition going?

Hicks had made a handful of starts before joining the Giants. But 2024 was his first year spending most of the time out of the rotation. He started 20 games before moving back into the bullpen due to an innings limit in his first year.

Through May, things got off to a hot start for the right hander. In his first 12 starts, he threw 63.1 innings with 52 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA.

Hicks' final eight starts, though he began a big decline. Over 35.1 innings, he struck out 38, but gave up 25 runs, a 6.37 ERA.

It's possible that was due to fatigue, with his first 12 starts being the second most innings he's ever thrown. That was always a possibility, as this experiment wasn't going to go perfectly overnight. It would always take time.

But he made the necessary changes to his arsenal to sustain more innings. He was always known for his 100 mph fastball, but he reduced that to around 94 to preserve his arm, and still got a ton of ground balls, as he was in the 85th percentile according to Baseball Savant.

The 28-year-old also throws three other pitches, plenty to be a starter.

Given the output and clear upside he showed at the beginning of the season, there is no reason to give up on it yet. Even though he wasn't a Posey signing, he could still be a bargain. His contract is four years, $44 million a contract worth carrying out this experiment.

Not only that, but the Giants could use starters. WIth Blake Snell leaving in free agency, San Francisco will be in the market for a starter, but the rotation still needs arms. If they do land a big fish in free agency, Hicks could slide in as the four starter until he hits his innings limit, which may be bigger next season.

If the Giants can't bring in a starter, the right hander will likely need to play a big role in the rotation next season for as long as he can. If it continues to pan out more and more, he could provide upside to a rotation that may need it.