Giants sign pitcher Jordan Hicks

The San Francisco Giants have signed pitcher Jordan Hicks of Houston, Texas to a four-year deal worth $44 million according to the Associated Press on Friday. The Giants are Hicks’s third Major League Baseball team following five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2018 to 2023, and part of one season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023.

Hicks’s 2023 MLB Trade

Hicks shared his time with the Cardinals and Blue Jays. He was traded from the Cardinals to the Blue Jays on July 30 for minor leaguers Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse. Kloffenstein and Robberse are both starting pitchers. Kloffenstein is from Magnolia, Texas, and was Toronto’s third round pick in the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft. Robberse is from Zeist, Netherlands.

Hicks’s 2023 MLB Statistics

In 2023, Hicks pitched 65 games, and had a record of three wins and nine losses. In 65 2/3 innings of work, he had 12 saves, and 13 holds, and 81 strikeouts. Hicks gave up 57 hits, 24 earned runs, four home runs and 32 walks, to go along with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.36.

Mean Fastball

Hicks is known throughout Major League Baseball for his fastball, which is considered one of the game’s very best. In 2023, he threw the sixth and 10th hardest pitch of the season. On June 19, in an 8-6 Cardinals win over the Washington Nationals, Hicks’s fastball reached 104.3 miles per hour. Then on March 30, in a 10-9 Cardinals loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, Hicks’s fastball reached 103.8 miles per hour.

The other two pitchers in the game known for their fastball are Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins and Aroldis Chapman of the Texas Rangers. Duran of Esperanza, Dominican Republic topped out at 104.8 miles per hour in a 6-3 Twins win over the Seattle Mariners on July 19. Chapman of Holguin, Cuba topped out at 103.8 miles per hour while with the Kansas City Royals in a 5-4 Kansas City win over the San Diego Padres on May 16.

Converted to a Starter

The Giants have plans to make Hicks a starting pitcher rather than a reliever or closer in 2024. In eight games as a starter in his career, Hicks has not been effective. He has a record of zero wins and four losses, with a poor earned run average of 5.47.