The Giants have agreed to a four-year, $44MM contract with free agent right-hander Jordan Hicks, experiences Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan provides that the Giants plan to make the most of Hicks as a starter slightly than a reliever. Hicks, who’s represented by the Ballengee Group, may earn an extra $2MM of annual incentives based mostly on innings pitched, experiences Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. These incentives start kicking in on the 100-inning mark, she provides.
A transfer again to the rotation is shocking, but it surely received’t be a completely unfamiliar function for the flamethrowing 27-year-old. Hicks labored as a starter within the minors earlier than debuting within the Cardinals’ bullpen through the 2018 season, and St. Louis briefly experimented with a transfer again to the rotation early within the 2022 marketing campaign. That didn’t pan out — he yielded 16 runs in 24 2/3 innings earlier than transferring again to a reduction function — however the Giants will strive their hand at maximizing Hicks’ explosive arsenal out of their very own rotation. The Giants have certainly proven a knack for serving to pitchers escape — Kevin Gausman chief amongst them — and Hicks clearly has the kind of uncooked stuff to intrigue golf equipment in a bigger function.
Few pitchers can rival Hicks when it comes to sheer velocity. He’s averaged 100.8 mph on his four-seamer and 100.2 mph on his two-seamer so far in his profession and has topped out at borderline comical 105 mph. The previous third-round choose {couples} that blistering velocity with a slider that sits at 86.5 mph, and he’s thrown very occasional “changeups” prior to now (by no means greater than at a 4% clip) — sitting 91.8 mph on that pitch total.
Given the uncommonly younger age at which he reached the open market and the overwhelming nature of his uncooked arsenal, Hicks has lengthy felt like a pitcher who’d command substantial curiosity regardless of a extra modest observe report. MLBTR ranked him twenty first on our High 50 Free Agent checklist, predicting a four-year, $40MM contract from a membership believing it might unlock one other gear within the righty.
As one would possibly anticipate for a pitcher with this sort of superhuman velocity, sturdiness has been a problem. Hicks has by no means pitched greater than 105 innings between the massive leagues and minors mixed in any season of his profession. He underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in 2019, had a 60-day IL stint attributable to irritation in that very same elbow in 2021, and missed greater than a month of the 2022 season attributable to a flexor pressure. Hicks returned from that damage in early July and was positioned again on the injured checklist in mid-September attributable to arm fatigue.
In fact, when he’s wholesome and at his greatest, Hicks may be flat-out overpowering. He sports activities a profession 3.85 ERA, however that’s skewed by 10 ugly innings previous to his UCL tear in 2019 and by his tough work as a starter in 2022. In 2023, Hicks turned in a 3.29 ERA with a 28.4% strikeout fee, 11.2% stroll fee and a 58.3% ground-ball fee in 65 1/3 innings between the Cardinals and the Blue Jays, who acquired him from St. Louis on the commerce deadline in change for minor league pitchers Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse. That ground-ball fee is nothing new; Hicks boasts a sensational 60.4% grounder fee in his profession. Sadly, final yr’s command troubles aren’t new both. He’s issued a free go to an ugly 12.8% of his opponents within the Majors.
Given final yr’s innings rely — and totals of 66 1/3 and 13 frames within the two previous seasons — it’s tough to think about Hicks merely stepping right into a rotation and firing off 30-plus begins, even when he’s capable of stay wholesome. The Giants determine to position him on some form of innings restrict in 2024, whether or not which means capping him at 5 innings per begin, utilizing him to piggyback with one other starter, or just giving him some occasional spells within the bullpen to maintain his arm recent.
A really perfect setting would possibly see Hicks transfer to the bullpen late within the season proper as latest commerce acquisition Robbie Ray returns from Tommy John surgical procedure, although rather a lot must go proper earlier than that’s a reliable consideration. If Hicks is ready to each stay wholesome and pitch successfully as a starter this coming season, the group might give him a bigger workload come 2025. At that time, plugging Hicks and Ray into the rotation behind ace Logan Webb might give San Francisco a formidable trio. That’s a serious “if,” however the upside is intriguing.
In the intervening time, Hicks will add one other query mark to a rotation that’s teeming with uncertainty behind Webb, a 2023 Cy Younger Award finalist. Webb led the Majors with 216 innings pitched final yr, however Alex Cobb and Sean Manaea have been the one different Giants pitchers to achieve even 100 innings. Manaea has since signed with the Mets in free company, and Cobb will open the 2024 season on the injured checklist whereas he recovers from hip surgical procedure.
Hicks joins veteran swingman Ross Stripling, prime prospect Kyle Harrison and younger righties Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck as candidates to fill out the rotation behind Webb. Twenty-five-year-old righty Kai-Wei Teng, who walked practically 14% of his opponents in Triple-A final yr, is the one different beginning pitcher on the 40-man roster. High prospect Carson Whisenhunt is definitely considered as a possible rotation mainstay by Giants brass, however he’s pitched simply 19 2/3 innings above A-ball and in all chance received’t be an choice till the 2025 marketing campaign.
It appears honest to ascertain the Giants making additional additions to their rotation, given all that instability, though with each Cobb and Ray on the mend, there will likely be veteran reinforcements filtering in because the season wears on. Nonetheless, the Giants entered the offseason with query marks on the pitching employees and all through the lineup, and lots of of these wants stay unaddressed. Including a extra established arm — be it a mid-tier arm within the Mike Clevinger/Michael Lorenzen/Hyun Jin Ryu vein or a top-tier starter like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery — nonetheless appears each prudent and properly inside the Giants’ budgetary capability.
Because it stands, the Giants’ payroll at present tasks to about $167MM, per Roster Useful resource, whereas their luxury-tax ledger sits practically $30MM shy of the $237MM first-tier threshold. San Francisco opened the 2023 season with a $188MM payroll and has beforehand put forth a $200MM roster prior to now, so there should be appreciable room for additional augmentation on the free agent and/or commerce markets.
