Lately, life has not been extremely fun for former <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a> pitchers, let alone some of the current bullpen pieces. The more and more we hear of pitchers facing extreme difficulty in their jobs, and the most recent one is Jordan Hicks.
His role earned him a pay cheque worth $44 million over four years, two winters ago, the same offseason he finished the previous campaign with as a member of the Jays. He was expected to ease into the role as a starter and hopefully keep him there.
Whoever signs his pay cheque may be rethinking the decision to offer $11 million per year. Hicks owns a -0.9 bWAR with the Giants at the moment, and this is the second season in a row where he started in the rotation only to move towards the bullpen as the season wore on. He has a .167 win-loss percentage with a 1-5 record over nine starts in 2025.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLBTonight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLBTonight</a> discusses the Giants&#39; decision to move Jordan Hicks to the bullpen. <a href="https://t.co/opvgOgJ2TH">pic.twitter.com/opvgOgJ2TH</a>
&mdash; MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1925011412314947664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Worst of all, his ERA sits at 6.60 over 46 1/3 innings of work, and he has allowed 55 hits and 35 earned runs. The hits he’s allowed were not exactly burners, and he’s not getting beat by a lot, but they are still finding ways to cross the plate. Hicks allows for hitter contact, but records a ton of ground balls, unfortunately some of them get through. He has not allowed a ton of free bases, as he’s walked only 17 hitters, striking out 41 in 207 batters faced.
Despite the positive takes in analyzing his generic starts, the pitcher is well below .500 on his record and has not offered much backing to remain in the rotation. The team has decided to temporarily move him to the bullpen in hopes of a reset, and hopefully a potential return from Hicks to the rotation. He has one relief appearance under his belt since the role move, where he allowed two hits, one walk, and one earned run on May 19th.
A closer look at Hicks’ struggles 
Hicks has offered as low as four innings of work, and as high as seven. His depth ability is not an issue, but his quality is. The right-hander’s strike ratio is just above 50%, filling up the zone. He occasionally misses spots and locates in some questionable areas, but can sometimes get away with it, given his plus fastball velocity.
When Hicks misses, he gets burnt with the barrel. On April 12th against the New York Yankees, Hicks was hit around, only lasting four innings of work. He allowed eight hits, seven runs, walked three and struck out three. His numbers were fairly similar to this on April 22nd against the Milwaukee Brewers, where he was torched for five runs off of eight hits. The right-hander lives on and off the zone at 53.1% but gets crushed at 84.4% in zone contact. The positive with Hicks is his ability to force groundouts.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Jordan Hicks, Wicked 98mph Front Door Two Seamer. 🤢
17 inches of Run <a href="https://t.co/4vOiKDraZA">pic.twitter.com/4vOiKDraZA</a>
&mdash; Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1918763603898830879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He’s at 58.6% groundouts with 41.4% AIR, and 84 total groundouts and 60 fly-outs. Hicks forces contact, and sometimes that contact backfires for hits. What’s needed for him is to re-prioritize his pitch selections.
Further known issues of ex-Blue Jays pitchers across the league
There could be a laundry list of arms that are not cutting it where they are. The latest comparison put former Blue Jay, Nate Pearson, on the lower end of success. His fate stayed in the same lane and did not veer into any improvement, and he&#8217;s now back in triple-A with the Cubs organization.
Former Blue Jay and current New York Yankee Marcus Stroman has been travelling on the same ship, battling struggles and ailments (11.57 ERA through three starts and a knee issue).
Last but not least, former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano has been taken out of the closer spot in Philadelphia due to a rollercoaster ride of a season start. The Phillies reliever owns a 7.27 ERA currently, which was once up in the 10s. Romano is slowly on the come-up, improving his ERA and offerings.
<hr />
&nbsp;

Lately, life has not been extremely fun for former <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a> pitchers, let alone some of the current bullpen pieces. The more and more we hear of pitchers facing extreme difficulty in their jobs, and the most recent one is Jordan Hicks.

His role earned him a pay cheque worth $44 million over four years, two winters ago, the same offseason he finished the previous campaign with as a member of the Jays. He was expected to ease into the role as a starter and hopefully keep him there.

Whoever signs his pay cheque may be rethinking the decision to offer $11 million per year. Hicks owns a -0.9 bWAR with the Giants at the moment, and this is the second season in a row where he started in the rotation only to move towards the bullpen as the season wore on. He has a .167 win-loss percentage with a 1-5 record over nine starts in 2025.

https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1925011412314947664

Worst of all, his ERA sits at 6.60 over 46 1/3 innings of work, and he has allowed 55 hits and 35 earned runs. The hits he’s allowed were not exactly burners, and he’s not getting beat by a lot, but they are still finding ways to cross the plate. Hicks allows for hitter contact, but records a ton of ground balls, unfortunately some of them get through. He has not allowed a ton of free bases, as he’s walked only 17 hitters, striking out 41 in 207 batters faced.

Despite the positive takes in analyzing his generic starts, the pitcher is well below .500 on his record and has not offered much backing to remain in the rotation. The team has decided to temporarily move him to the bullpen in hopes of a reset, and hopefully a potential return from Hicks to the rotation. He has one relief appearance under his belt since the role move, where he allowed two hits, one walk, and one earned run on May 19th.

A closer look at Hicks’ struggles 

Hicks has offered as low as four innings of work, and as high as seven. His depth ability is not an issue, but his quality is. The right-hander’s strike ratio is just above 50%, filling up the zone. He occasionally misses spots and locates in some questionable areas, but can sometimes get away with it, given his plus fastball velocity.

When Hicks misses, he gets burnt with the barrel. On April 12th against the New York Yankees, Hicks was hit around, only lasting four innings of work. He allowed eight hits, seven runs, walked three and struck out three. His numbers were fairly similar to this on April 22nd against the Milwaukee Brewers, where he was torched for five runs off of eight hits. The right-hander lives on and off the zone at 53.1% but gets crushed at 84.4% in zone contact. The positive with Hicks is his ability to force groundouts.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1918763603898830879

He’s at 58.6% groundouts with 41.4% AIR, and 84 total groundouts and 60 fly-outs. Hicks forces contact, and sometimes that contact backfires for hits. What’s needed for him is to re-prioritize his pitch selections.

Further known issues of ex-Blue Jays pitchers across the league

There could be a laundry list of arms that are not cutting it where they are. The latest comparison put former Blue Jay, Nate Pearson, on the lower end of success. His fate stayed in the same lane and did not veer into any improvement, and he's now back in triple-A with the Cubs organization.

Former Blue Jay and current New York Yankee Marcus Stroman has been travelling on the same ship, battling struggles and ailments (11.57 ERA through three starts and a knee issue).

Last but not least, former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano has been taken out of the closer spot in Philadelphia due to a rollercoaster ride of a season start. The Phillies reliever owns a 7.27 ERA currently, which was once up in the 10s. Romano is slowly on the come-up, improving his ERA and offerings.

<hr />

&nbsp;

Former Blue Jays pitcher Jordan Hicks struggling in new role with the Giants

Report: Orelvis Martinez signs minor-league deal with Nationals

Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Chandler Simpson (14) slides into second base on a double against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field

Recent articles from Nick Prasad

Breaking News