Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks just had an incredible end-of-game performance in which he delivered all his nasty stuff.
Make that Jordan Hicks' third straight save appearance for the St. Louis Cardinals. On Monday night's win against the Washington Nationals, Hicks recorded a strikeout on a 104 miles-per-hour crazy stinker, the kind that has everybody going back to the replays.
Prior to his final strikeout, the righty arm threw some fastballs that were plenty impressive on their own. What really got the MLB community talking was the absurd late movement of his swirling fireballs that easily struck out the poor Nationals hitter who was scheduled to face him.
After the Cardinals placed Ryan Helsley on the injured list, Hicks has shined in his new role as closer and looks more and more like his 2018 and 2019 prime self.
Just watch Hicks' wizardry below — Lane Thomas had no chance.
Jordan Hicks throws serious gas in third straight save for Cardinals
Hicks' fifth season in St. Louis has not been going as well as planned as many fans and pundits are weighing whether he should be a trade chip come the MLB deadline.
In 30 games, Hicks owns a 4.02 ERA and a 1.500 WHIP; however, he now has three saves and counting, which is more than what he had in his past two seasons.
The Cardinals' bullpen is currently stretched and the club is facing the reality of not playing playoff baseball this year, not with their .411 win percentage anyway.
Monday's performance marked the first time a Cardinals pitcher recorded a save on three straight days since Seunghwan Oh back in 2017. As for a bit of personal history, Hicks' fastballs marked the first time the arm reached 104.3 miles per hour in a regular season game since 2019.
Is Hicks completely forgiven for his mediocre 2023 season? Not quite. But if this is what the road to redemption looks like, Cardinals fans want more of this version of Hicks.
