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When the San Francisco Giants signed former St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks to a four-year, $44 million contract in December 2023, the vision was clear: transform the flamethrowing reliever into a reliable starting pitcher.
The team hoped that Hicks’ electric stuff, highlighted by a power sinker and a fastball that touches triple digits, could be harnessed over longer outings, providing a dynamic presence in the rotation. However, that experiment has hit a significant roadblock.
Hicks has struggled mightily in his starting role this season, posting a 6.55 ERA through his first nine starts. With a career-high WHIP of 1.52 and an opponents batting average of .293, Hicks failed to consistently pitch deep into games, putting extra pressure on the bullpen and forcing the Giants to make a change.
On Saturday, the team announced that Hicks would return to the bullpen, with rookie Hayden Birdsong taking his place in the rotation.
“We’re just trying to get it right at this particular time,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Jordan came in last year and signed here as a starter. He came in here this year expecting to be a starter, and he was. But we’re just making adjustments a couple months into the season that we think are potentially going to make us better.”
Hicks’ struggles as a starter actually date back to the second half of the 2024 season. At the end of April that year, Hicks had a 1.59 ERA after six starts, and despite a few bumpy outings, it still stood at 2.70 through May. But in eight starts over June and July, Hicks allowed a combined 25 earned runs in 35.1 innings, prompting a move into the bullpen, where he thrived in August, with a 1.17 ERA before a trip to the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
To his credit, Hicks has accepted the move as a chance to make improvements.
"For me, I'm just going to live with it [and] take ownership," he said. "I didn't have the greatest start to the season as I wanted, but I'll move on and help the team in the bullpen.
"I have not given up on myself. If the opportunity [to move back into the starting rotation] presents itself, I'll happily take it, but at the same time I really don't have much control of the situation. Yeah, I want to be a starting pitcher. That's always what I've wanted to do in the big leagues. It's just not the time right now."
Carpenter, Wong Officially Announce Retirement from MLB
A pair of former Cardinals officially announced their retirement from Major League Baseball over the past week.
On Wednesday, Matt Carpenter, a former Silver Slugger and three-time All-Star who played 12 of his 14 seasons with the Cardinals, made the announcement while appearing with former teammate Scott Linebrink on Sports Spectrum's “Get in the Game” podcast. During his 12 seasons as a Cardinal, Carpenter slashed .261/.366/.446/.812 with 159 homers, 308 doubles and 591 RBIs.
“I was very fortunate enough to play for some great organizations, and I had quite a thrill being able to don the St. Louis Cardinals logo for many years, a brief stint with the New York Yankees and also the San Diego Padres,” Carpenter, 39, said on the podcast. “I’m excited for what’s next and getting to spend some much-needed quality time with my wife and kids on a more consistent basis now that I’ve put the cleats up. So, yeah, it’s exciting stuff.”
On Friday, former Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong made it official that he is also retiring from professional baseball.
The former University of Hawaii standout returned to his alma mater for his induction with the 2025 class into the UH Sports Circle of Honor, and he also threw out the first pitch before the Rainbow Warriors' game against UC San Diego. Talking to local media, the 34-year-old Wong said he was ready for the next chapter in his life.
"Pretty much right now, I'm done,” Wong said. “I've kind of come to the conclusion that I'm probably going to be hanging them up. It's just one of those things where, the game how it's going now, there’s no sense of chasing (it). … I'm a dad now, yes, I'm enjoying that. I'm trying to be the best big league dad that I can be. So I'm going to stick to that.”
Wong spent 11 seasons in Major League Baseball, including eight with the Cardinals, for whom he won a Gold Glove in 2019 and 2020.
Knizner, Gibson Receive Walking Papers
The MLB Transactions page saw two recent Cardinals heading for uncertain futures over the weekend, one of them somewhat surprisingly so, the other not so much.
On Saturday, catcher Andrew Knizner was released by the Washington Nationals despite enjoying an impressive season at Triple-A Rochester.
The 30-year-old, who played in 256 games with the Cardinals from 2019 to 2023, had posted a slash line of .382/.516/.500 over 91 plate appearances for Rochester. However, Knizner had an opt out in his minor league contract, and the Nationals, feeling comfortable with their current catching situation, decided to give Knizner the opportunity to catch on with another organization.
Considering Knizner’s defensive skills, it won’t be a surprise if he is back in the league soon. The same can’t be said about pitcher Kyle Gibson.
The 37-year-old right-hander, who went 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA during his lone season with the Cardinals in 2024, signed a one-year, $5.25 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles at the end of spring training. Given a few weeks in the minors to work his way into game shape, Gibson was called up to Baltimore in late April, but the results have not been pretty.
In four starts covering 12.1 innings, Gibson has gone 0-3 with a 16.78 ERA. During his most recent start on Saturday, a few hours after Baltimore had fired manager Brandon Hyde, Gibson recorded only two outs, giving up six runs on six hits, and on Sunday, the Orioles designated the 13-year veteran for assignment.
"I think physically I feel good,” he said after Saturday's game. “Stuff-wise frustratingly feels good. Bullpens feel good, everything’s been pretty normal. I think these first two or three weeks have been frustrating, to say the least. Hard to find words, really, to go into it and to kind of voice it appropriately, honestly.
"Four times taking the mound feeling like you haven’t given the team a chance to win each time is a pretty big gut punch. Feeling like you’re part of getting a manager fired is a gut punch. Just not going out there and being able to compete and give the team a chance to win every five days is frustrating. So yeah, I don’t know if any of you guys have ever felt the feeling of essentially letting down your co-workers, but it’s a gut punch. It’s not anything I enjoy feeling at all, but that’s kind of been the reality of the first four starts.”