Cardinals: 3 most exciting pitches from Jordan Hicks’ starting debut

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jordan Hicks made his debut as a starter on Thursday night, and threw some nasty pitches against the Marlins.

While St. Louis did lose to the Marlins on Thursday night, some good did come from Hicks’ first start with the club, and that is the 25-year-old himself. Whether the Cardinals opt to use Hicks in a long-relief or starter role long-term, he’s a weapon with an elite fastball and breaking stuff to boot.

Early in his career, Hicks was clocked at over 105 MPH on the radar gun. Now, he’s added to his pitch repertoire. On Thursday, Hicks went three innings, giving up one run while striking out three hitters. A main area of improvement for him personally will be the two walks he gave up.

Cardinals: Jordan Hicks has room to improve

“I liked a lot of it, and the only thing I didn’t like were the walks,” said Hicks. “My stuff is too good to be walking people out there. I’ve just got to get locked in and avoid the walks.”

Hicks knows his stuff, and it’s elite. A couple of pitches from Thursday night’s start show just that.

Here’s a sinker with an incredible amount of run.

A pair of sliders that were not meant to be hit by humans.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1517286362944266240

And, just for more perspective of what it might be like to see a few of these pitches in the same at-bat, the overlay.

Sweet lord.

Hicks has some of the best stuff in the major leagues. If he can figure out his control issues at any point this season, the Cardinals pitching staff will suddenly have one of the more dangerous weapons in all of baseball.