MLB Rumors: Cardinals plan, Braves record broken, Jacob deGrom

MLB Rumors: Cardinals plan with Jordan Hicks worked

Alright, I’ll eat crow — I was wrong about Oli Marmol and Jordan Hicks.

When Marmol opted against sending Hicks to the minor leagues, or releasing him altogether, despite a 12 ERA through the first few weeks of the season, it made me cringe. Marmol instead decided to pitch Hicks in less stressful situations, rather than giving him a chance to blow a game as he did twice against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

So far, so good, as Hicks threw on Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a relatively stress-free outing.

Hicks did allow one hit, but he struck out three hitters with his explosive fastball and nasty breaking pitches. When at his best, Hicks can be one of the better relief pitchers in the National League. The issue remains that he hasn’t been at his best in years, as Josh Jacobs of Redbird Rants wrote several days ago:

"“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.”"

Hopefully Tuesday night was a step in the right direction for Hicks. If he can regain his composure, there’s little reason he can’t pitch late in games for the Cards.