Examining Jordan Hicks’ Future With The White Sox

The White Sox acquired right-hander Jordan Hicks as little more than a financial chip, allowing the Red Sox to trim payroll for the price of an intriguing prospect. Boston escaped from $16MM of the $24MM they owed the veteran through 2027. To facilitate the maneuver, the Red Sox sent over right-hander David Sandlin, who immediately slotted in as a top 10 prospect in Chicago’s system, per FanGraphs.

It’s a solid piece of business for an organization with ample payroll flexibility. Even after adding Hicks, Austin Hays, and Seranthony Dominguez, the White Sox project to have the fourth-lowest payroll in the league. FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool has the club at $86MM, right in line with the $85MM it spent last season.

So where does that leave Hicks? He struggled with the Giants last season and was even worse when he came to the Red Sox as part of the Rafael Devers trade. The starter experience went well with San Francisco early in 2024, but has since looked like an ill-advised path. Hicks is now two years and three franchises removed from being a dominant reliever. He joins a Chicago roster with little in the way of talent and experience in the bullpen.

Hicks debuted with the Cardinals in 2018. He quickly gained notoriety for a 100-mph sinker that generated just as many cool GIFs as it did broken bats. Harnessing the pitch was an issue, as Hicks recorded a bloated 13.3% walk rate in his first MLB stint. He opened the 2019 campaign as the primary closer, but a UCL tear ended his season in June. The injury would kick off a lengthy stretch marred by health concerns. Hicks missed time over the next four years with elbow, forearm, neck, and arm fatigue issues.

St. Louis got a healthy first half out of Hicks in 2023 and used the opportunity to deal him to Toronto. He was solid with the Blue Jays, mostly setting up for incumbent closer Jordan Romano. Hicks landed a decent four-year, $44MM commitment from the Giants that offseason. He earned a spot in the rotation, and the transition initially went swimmingly. Hicks allowed two earned runs or fewer in his first seven starts with San Francisco. He expanded the usage of his secondaries while trimming his velocity to a more sustainable level.

Hicks trended down after the solid first month as a starter. His fastball steadily lost ticks as the innings piled up. After allowing 12 runs across 13 innings to open July, Hicks was booted from the rotation. He was given another shot as a starter this past season, but it went even worse. Hicks was strictly a reliever once he joined the Red Sox.

It seems pretty clear from the past two years of results that Hicks’ lone path to big-league viability is as a reliever. That’s where the Chicago front office landed after bringing him in.

“At its floor, we have a guy who can really help us in the bullpen, get him back on track, being that he’s been kind of back and forth on different roles, a couple of different stops along the way,” general manager Chris Getz told reporters, including Scott Merkin of MLB.com. “I think the White Sox are at [their] best if he’s at his best in the bullpen.”

The run prevention results were bad (8.20 ERA), but Hicks posted a strong 111 Stuff+ in 18 2/3 innings out of the Boston bullpen. His sinker and slider were at 115 and 117, respectively. Hicks’ four-seamer and splitter graded out poorly, though he used them infrequently.