4 Cardinals who will no longer be on the roster by June 1

Jordan Hicks may be off the Cardinals roster by June 1

Marmol has said he would only use Hicks in low-leverage situations as he works out to become a more effective and efficient pitcher for the Cardinals. It goes against everything, though, when the low-leverage settings he’s placed in become high-leverage based on his pitching.

On Friday, Hicks earned his third season loss when he pitched two-thirds of an inning. While walking two and giving up one hit, he gave up three earned runs. In 14 games this season, he has a 7.62 ERA over 13 innings of work. He has struck out 22, but he’s still terribly ineffective while throwing over 100 mph; hoping for the best.

Hicks has five years of service in the Major Leagues and can decline a demotion to the minor leagues, as it would affect his service time. Hicks declined to be sent to the minor leagues, and the team opted to put him in low-leverage situations to allow pitching coach Dusty Blake to help him become more effective with his pitches.

Unfortunately, the situations Marmol is putting him in start are low-leverage but quickly become higher leverage as he loses some control over his pitches. Considering some of the bad luck situations the Cards have found themselves in, leading to some gut-punching losses, the team could be forced into a situation where they have to designate Hicks to assignment to get better solutions pitching.

Hicks’s performances have been very frustrating this season. He has struggled to consistently and effectively throw his pitches that can top out at 103 mph. When throwing at that speed, it’s crucial to be effective. Hicks still needs to work on this, and while the organization desperately need him to be effective — it’s taking a long time to get there, and the Cards may be forced to remove him from the roster before June 1.