BOSTON — Entering the 2024 season, the Boston Red Sox targeted hard-throwing right-hander Jordan Hicks to add to their rotation, but finished as runners-up when Hicks signed with the San Francisco Giants for four years and $44 million.
Roughly 18 months later, Hicks sat in the Red Sox dugout, exactly two weeks after being traded to Boston as part of the Rafael Devers deal. Hicks took over Devers’ locker in the Red Sox clubhouse. The irony of all this was not lost on him.
“I just remember (the Red Sox) came after me pretty hard and it was between them and the Giants,” Hicks said prior to a 5-3 Red Sox loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. “So I’m just excited to be here and feel wanted.”
The 28-year-old has been on the injury list since early June with toe inflammation, but after two rehab outings with Triple-A Worcester, is set to be activated on Monday as the Red Sox begin a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Hicks said of the shocking trade on June 15. “I didn’t even know you could get traded on the IL. But I was just really excited to hear that it was a team that was pursuing me in free agency, and I got to be a part of a young squad. I’m really excited to play for this historic organization.”
A third-round draft pick in 2015, Hicks spent the first five years of his career in St. Louis before being traded to Toronto at the deadline in 2023 then signing with the Giants in 2024.
While mainly a reliever in St. Louis, including two stints as the Cardinals closer in 2019 and 2023 where he combined for 26 saves, the Giants experimented with Hicks in their rotation in 2024. In 29 games and 20 starts, he posted a 4.10 ERA. He began 2025 in the rotation, but didn’t fare as well with a 6.55 ERA through nine starts before he was moved to the bullpen in May. He landed on the IL in early June.
In that sense, the move to Boston has been something of a reset for the native Texan.
While it’s only been two weeks since joining the Red Sox organization, Hicks described appreciation for the pitching infrastructure and how the pitching group has worked with him to get him up to speed.
“How in-depth they go into the pitching side of things, the metrics and the want to have me here,” Hicks said
“There’s biometric data, skeletal data, just getting me to things I did really well in 2023. (From) 2019 to ‘23 is where I felt best out of the ‘pen,” he added. “Obviously, 2023 was that platform year ahead of free agency, I felt pretty dominant from Day 1. So just getting back to that and kind of finding things I was doing back then that I lost in the routine of starting. I’m really excited for the opportunity.”
Hicks noted one of the suggestions from Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard was to reintegrate a harder slider he’d thrown in 2023. The pitch will complement his four-seamer, sinker and splitter while he plans to reduce usage of his sweeper.
In 2023, Hicks posted a 3.29 ERA in 65 appearances from the Cardinals and Blue Jays with 12 saves along with 81 strikeouts in 65 ⅔ innings.
“(The slider) was definitely a suggestion from the Red Sox and I was in agreement that I needed a permanent slider to match with a harder fastball, so I’m kind of getting away from the sweeper,” he said. “The sweeper is always in the back pocket, depending on the hitter, obviously playing with those two grips right now, the focus is the harder slider.
“If I’m going to be throwing upper 90s to lower 100s, I feel like a harder slider plays better, and based on the history, being in the ‘pen, that more firm slider played better.”
Part of the reason the Red Sox pursued Hicks was for his ability to consistently hit triple digits. His 97.3 mph average velocity ranks in the 92nd percentile among all pitchers. He entered Sunday 17th in the majors in pitches thrown at or above 100 mph (28) this season. (For context, Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman ranked sixth with 119 pitches over 100 mph.)
Despite the velocity, Hicks has a career 20 percent strikeout rate, but induces ground balls at a 59 percent clip, ranking him in the 95th percentile in the league.
As a starter earlier this season, Hicks noted he scaled back some velocity and has already seen it jump in two rehab outings in Worcester.
“I’m excited just to see what’s left in the tank,” he said. “My last year full-time in relief, I got up to 103 (mph) in the playoffs. I’ve gotten up to 101 this year as a starter, and sat pretty much like 97-98. I’m optimistic that it’s in there.”
With Justin Slaten moved to the 60-day injury list over the weekend as he continues to work through shoulder inflammation, Hicks’ addition to the bullpen will boost a beleaguered group.
“We’re missing Slaten, so now we’ve got somebody that’s done it with good stuff,” manager Alex Cora said of Hicks. “So you got Chapman, Hicks, (Greg) Weissert, (Justin) Wilson, (Garrett) Whitlock and the other guys fall into their roles. Our bullpen has been solid, obviously on the road trip we lost a few games, but overall, they’ve been a good unit. (Hicks’) stuff is going to be better.”
Hicks said he feels confident with his new pitching plan and while he wished the Giants gave him a longer leash as a starter, he’s eager to show what he can do in high-leverage spots in the bullpen for Boston.
“I’m excited to help the team anyway I can,” he said. “I know what I can bring to the table. I just needed a little adjustment period coming from starting, so it was a good IL stint in that aspect. I feel like I’m really just coming back into bullpen form.”
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey
