When our 2017 St. Louis Cardinals’ top prospects list was released in January of that year, Jordan Hicks hadn’t reached the triple digits. The system was ranked 14th at the time, with a 2015 third-round draft pick at Cyprus Creek High School in Texas (Per Eric Longenhagen) thrown, which was a fairly modest 96 mph. It changed soon. The high-octane right-hander continued to lose the 100 mark that summer, and early next season he pitched in the major league against the Philadelphia Phillies with 105 points.
He has been riding a roller coaster ever since. Hicks had a solid rookie campaign in the 2018 rookie campaign, which logged in 14 saves and 3.14 ERA in over two months of 2019, but he blew his elbow in June and underwent surgery by Tommy John. As a type 1 diabetes patient, he participated in the entire 2020 pandemic campaign. More elbow worms appear in 2021, limiting him to 10 major league innings.
The change in the address and his description of his work were evident in the following seasons of Hicks. In 2023, the right remains a relief player—a year-round deal that he went from Cardinal to the Toronto Blue Jays before the trade deadline—but he was then converted to a starter after signing with the San Francisco Giants before last season. Hicks’ success in this role, now finds himself back in the bullpen – and there is another team. He was acquired by the Boston Red Sox as part of the Rafael Devers trade last month, and he went on to make nine appearances and registered for two saves while allowing four runs in seven innings. His fastball speed reached its highest level at 101.5 mph.
What is his 2017 Fangraphs scout report like? Furthermore, what does he think about this over the years? To find out, I shared some of what Eric wrote and asked Hicks to respond to it.
———
“The relatively undercooked preparation department in the 2015 draft.”
Hicks said of that sentence: “Don’t cook well?” I don’t have many rounds. At that time I only threw 50 innings, and there were 50 innings. Therefore, it is about 50 innings and 50 innings. I think that might be what he means. ”
“His fastball hit 96 with a 90-94 and came in with a weird angle with some late sinks.”
“That sounds good,” Hicks replied. “To be fair, I probably had 98 times by then, but I was sitting between 90 and 96. As for the weird angle, I think that was originally my arm slot to be lower – a little lower than now. Not the side arms, but lower. But absolutely inconsistent.
“The sink has always been there,” he added. “Even in the outfield – I played out in high school – I would throw it out with heavy people. I picked up that and grabbed it and it played with the sink.”
“He has some freshman feel for the average power curve ball in the 78-83 mph range, which will flash 55/60 on scale.”
“Yes, I was throwing curveballs back then,” Hicks said. “I just wanted to find something that would break. Honestly, I really don’t know what I’m doing. I’m still learning.
“I think the last time I threw the curve ball was in High-A, or maybe in the 2017 Fall League. The next year, I started working with the slider – now we call it a sweeper – and now I’m back to a slider. Since then, it’s been back and forth between Slider and Sweeper.”
“Because the release point changes heavily, his orders were shaken…”
“You’re going,” Hicks interrupted. “That’s what I’m just saying; my arm slots weren’t consistent at that time.”
“…But he is a very good athlete and the order should come over time.”
“I compare [a] Solid athlete, Hicks smiled. “But I’m grateful.”
“It sounds like there’s not a lot of change here right now, and you have to shoot it a lot to see Hicks as a starter above the league average.”
“The changes weren’t very good at that time,” he admitted. “Not much feeling. I threw more separators in the major leagues. I don’t know if I even…I think I threw changes for a year. It’s OK. But I lost most of them.
“I started throwing the separator from 2019 or late 2018. In 2018, I was really just a sledgeer and focused mainly on the effort. Everything I really wanted to do at that time – reach 105, sit 100 times.
“I was 98 at Johnson City, and this is senior rookie New Rookie Ball,” Hicks said when asked to elaborate on his speed schedule. “Every season, it’s slowly crawling every year. I hit 101 from 98 to 101, hit 102 in the fall league, and then 105 in the major league 105. It’s a combination of everything and a lot of people feel the feeling of my mechanic. Just ran.”
“He’s very far from the profession, but I’m temporarily projecting him as the No. 4 starter and consider him the most interesting domestically-drawn pitcher in the system.”
“Of course,” Hicks said. “I mean, I’m definitely a high prospect. I’m at a low starting point, but as minors improve, I jump very fast. I’m a starter. It’s going back and forth, but overall, I can still do it; I can do it; I can start. I’ve just had a tough year this year.
“However, the report is very accurate,” Hicks added. “I’ve been a long way since then. It’s been a few years, but honestly, it feels like yesterday. The Little League is really fun for me. It’s been a short time, but I really enjoy playing in those small cities.”
–
Previous “Old Scouting Reports Revisited” interviews can be found through these links: Shane Baz, Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Cease, Matt Chapman, Erick Fedde, Kyle Freeland, Max Fried, Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Tanner Houck, Matthew Liberatore, Tyler Mahle, Sean Newcomb, Bailey Ober, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Joe Ryan, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien.
