MLB Rumors: Cardinals trade, Jacob deGrom injury, Cubs benching

MLB Rumors: Could the Cardinals trade Jordan Hicks?

Jordan Hicks has not been a reliable major-league relief pitcher since 2019. While talented, Hicks is often erratic and cannot be trusted in close games late.

That hasn’t stopped Oli Marmol from giving him opportunities, most recently against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he gave up three runs on just as many hits. Earlier in the series he walks two Bucs hitters and got the quick hook.

Marmol acknowledged that St. Louis needed to alter Hicks role, and they’ve done just that. Rather than option the talented 26-year-old, Marmol has opted to keep him in the majors for now and pitch him in low-stress situations.

“We have to figure out how to get Hicks back. Thats’s our jobs, that’s what we get paid to do. Part of is to evaluate and pick and choose what guys to use, but another part is getting guys to perform better,” Marmol said. “We take that as our responsibility — how do we get this guy back to being usable? Then, once we get there, how do we get him to be dominant? So, we spend tons of hours trying to figure that out.”

St. Louis has enough rotation struggles as is, if their bullpen cannot be trusted, that’s a giant red flag for any contending team. Redbird Rants thinks the best option is to get rid of Hicks altogether. If the Cards cannot find a trade suitor, perhaps optioning or releasing Hicks makes sense:

"“Hicks has not been good for over three years. Since missing the 2020 season after opting out, the right-hander has posted a 5.40, 4.84, and now a 12.71 ERA in consecutive seasons. There was a lot of optimism entering Spring Training that Hicks could revamp some of his repertoire and return to being a high-leverage reliever for the Cardinals. If anything, it feels like he has taken major steps back in his development.”"

This is how most Cards fans feel at this juncture. The time is now to make a decision on Hicks future, for better or worse.