With Jack Flaherty opening the season on the injured list as he works his way back from shoulder trouble, the Cardinals had a decision to make: Who would take Flaherty’s spot in the rotation?
After weighing the options, St. Louis has elected to go with Jordan Hicks.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol shared the news Wednesday as the team held a workout on the field at Busch Stadium ahead of Thursday’s Opening Day game against the Pirates. Hicks is an interesting choice for the role considering that he has been used as a reliever for each of the 112 big-league games in which he has pitched during his career with the Cardinals.
After debuting with the Cardinals in 2018, Hicks saw his 2019 season cut short by Tommy John surgery. As he continued his rehab in 2020, it made sense for Hicks–a Type 1 diabetic–to opt-out of the COVID-shortened season. Hicks returned for 2021 but threw in his last game of the season on May 1 before missing the rest of the year due to elbow troubles. Hicks shared this spring that last summer was spent rehabbing a small tear in his surgically-repaired right elbow, trying to get things back up to speed for a return to game action.