Cardinals reliever’s minor tweak has made him enticing trade chip

The St. Louis Cardinals may have to make some trades, and one pitcher is coming around just in time to get himself moved.

Coming up on the trade deadline in a little over a month, the St. Louis Cardinals could justify becoming big sellers for this year’s midseason player movement frenzy. At last in the NL Central, the Cardinals haven’t shown many signs of life all season long, and have several pieces that opposing teams might be interested in.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado are the obvious players St. Louis will have to field calls about. After that, teams could call about someone like Jordan Montgomery, who is on an expiring contract.

A reliever that started the year slow as could be might be an option, too, thanks to one tiny tweak he has made with his game after a horrifying start to the year.

Jordan Hicks is having tons of success by moving a foot

Jordan Hicks was one of the villains of the early season for the Cardinals. I mean, the guy had a double-digit ERA through his first eight games!

Though the entire team has struggled this year, Hicks was one of the first to face serious enough individual struggles that he was publicly demoted to “low leverage” pitching opportunities out of the bullpen.

Since then, though, Hicks has had a resurgence and clearly regained confidence. Just Monday night, he threw three pitches above 103 MPH in his save in a Cardinals win. He’s given up runs in just three games since May 1st.

So, what changed? Just a couple of inches!

Hicks moved to the first-base side of the rubber on the mound in late April, and the results speak for themselves:

In that time he has a near-2.09 WHIP, and has taken the lead on the team in strikeouts per nine innings pitched. He’s vaulted up the proverbial leaderboard of late-game pitchers after flailing entirely to start the year.

He’s completely changed the narrative on his performance in leveraged situations, as well. In all MLB high-leverage situations since May 1st (5 innings pitched or more), Hicks has the sixth-best FIP. Here’s how the leaderboard shakes out:

1. Chris Martin: 0.28
2. Clay Holmes: 0.28
3. Andrew Nardi: 0.28
4. Felix Bautista: 0.39
5. Emmanual Clase: 0.78
6. Jordan Hicks: 0.78

The NL Central is open enough for the Cardinals to justify trying to keep their hand in the game. Ultimately, though, it wouldn’t be a shock to look back at the end of the season and see that as a massive mistake.

Hicks rebuilding his reputation so soon after a complete demotion is not the sort of thing you see often. St. Louis should be looking to cash in, and fast.