When the Boston Red Sox traded their 28-year-old star slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, the team’s fans were outraged at the loss of one of their favorite players and best hitters. But the players the Red Sox received in return only made matters worse.
Fans, at least those who aired their views online, dismissed the quartet of players sent to Boston as “garbage,” “nothing,” or even “a bag of baseballs,” among even harsher epithets.
But those fans may be in for a pleasant surprise as one of the four players is a $44 million righty pitcher with a track record of throwing up to 103 mph . And Jordan Hicks, who much to fans’ consternation is currently on the injured list with right toe inflammation, moved a step closer to his Boston debut on Thursday when he threw a live batting practice session off the mound at Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts, home of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate.
Assuming there were no setbacks as a result of the session, Hicks is expected to begin a rehab assignment and join the major league team soon afterward.
Hicks came up in the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals who drafted him in the third round, as a Texas high schooler in 2015.
Shortly after he made his debut at the age of 21 in 2018, Hicks threw a fastball clocked at 103.2 mph. He also fired multiple pitches at 102.4 that season.
The Giants signed Hicks as a free agent prior to the 2024 season, inking him to a four-year, $44 million deal, but for some reason converted him from the bullpen to the starting rotation. In nine starts this season, Hicks compiled a bloated 6.55 ERA before San Francisco sent him back to the bullpen.
The Red Sox appear to have no intention of using Hicks in a starting role. President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow said soon after the trade that the club was “excited about bringing Jordan Hicks, a dominant late-inning reliever, into our mix.”
Hicks would join a bullpen anchored by closer Aroldis Chapman who in 2018 was the only MLB pitcher to throw a pitch faster than Hicks, and who at age 37 owns the fastest pitch of 2025 so far, a 103.8 mph heater thrown on May 7 against the Texas Rangers.
