TORONTO — Jordan Hicks is ready to toe the rubber for the Toronto Blue Jays. Like, immediately.
Hicks arrived in Toronto on Monday, less than 24 hours after he was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Blue Jays for right-handed pitching prospects Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse. Hicks, who has made only one appearance in the past 12 days, was eager to start pitching for the Blue Jays as soon as possible.
Hicks said that once he went over his repertoire with catchers Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk before the Blue Jays opened a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles, he was ready to go.
"For me, I think it's just going to be going out there and throwing strikes and getting right after it," Hicks said in the home dugout at Rogers Centre on Monday afternoon. "I never played Baltimore before, this is my first time, so I'm just excited to go over their hitters in the meeting and form a game plan."
Hicks (1-6), who has five pitches in his arsenal, has a 3.67 earned-run average this season with eight saves and 59 strikeouts over 41 2/3 innings pitched.
He's thrown a sinker 60.3 per cent of the time this year and a sweeper 21.8 per cent. A four-seam fastball, slider, and change-up round out his pitches. Both his sinker and four-seamer can top out at over 100 m.p.h.
Closer Jordan Romano of Markham, Ont., is on Toronto's 15-day injured list with lower-back soreness and Hicks is ready to step up in the ninth inning, if needed.
"I'm just expecting to be in the back end of the bullpen when (Romano) gets back, helping out in whatever way we can," said Hicks, who was unaware that Romano was injured until he was traded to the Blue Jays. "If he's been used a couple of days in a row, maybe I could step in and do that.
"I don't know. We'll talk more about it I'm sure as time goes on, but as of right now I'm just excited to be in the back end of the bullpen."
Toronto manager John Schneider was enthusiastic about the deal as he prepares his club for what he hopes is a deep post-season run.
"I loved it. I think it speaks volumes to what we're trying to do here," Schneider said before the game. "In the immediate future it adds an elite arm to our bullpen, which is already performing at a very high level.
"I think he's going to be a huge, huge piece for us down the stretch."
Hicks, 26, appears to be a pure rental for the Blue Jays as his US$1.84-million contract expires at the end of his season, allowing him to test free agency for the first time in his career.
Major League Baseball's trade deadline is on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET. Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said his team is not done trying to swing deals for the playoffs.
"We certainly hope to make the organization better and we are working around the clock," said Atkins. "Not a lot of downtime for us right now and we do see opportunities."
Also Monday, right-handed reliever Jay Jackson was placed on the family medical emergency list. His son JR was born prematurely earlier this month.
Righty Bowden Francis was recalled from the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y., in a corresponding move.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2023.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
