SAN FRANCISCO — On a sunny Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park, Jordan Hicks took the next step in his transformation into a starting pitcher.
The man who once hit 105 mph as a reliever didn’t register a single reading on the radar gun above 96 mph. Completely abandoning his once-prolific velocity, Hicks baffled opposing batters, anyway, navigating through five innings to earn the win as the Giants completed a three-game sweep of the Rockies, 4-1.
A day after becoming the final team to win three games in a row, the Giants notched their first series sweep of the season. It was only fitting that it came against their perennial punching bags, the Rockies, who have lost 23 of their 28 meetings in San Francisco since the start of 2021.
Walking off the mound down 1-0 after the top of the fifth, the Giants flipped the score for good with a three-run rally in the bottom half of the inning kickstarted by the bottom two members of their batting order, rookie shortstop Marco Luciano and recently signed catcher Curt Casali, who both reached base to lead off the inning and scored the tying and go-ahead runs.
Hicks watched from the top step of the dugout after escaping his only tricky situation of the afternoon to finish his fifth inning of work, limiting the Rockies to a lone run — a first-inning solo shot from Ryan McMahon — on three hits despite recording only one strikeout to lower his ERA to 2.38, fifth-best in the National League.
With runners on second and third, Hicks reared back for his 72nd and final pitch to find a 96 mph fastball and coaxed a soft pop fly from Charlie Blackmon for the final out of the fifth inning. Prior to that pitch, his only three offerings that topped 94 mph were three heaters outside the strike zone that put Jacob Stallings on base earlier in the inning.
Hicks threw 32 sinkers, averaging 91.7 mph, down from an average of 95.3 mph in nine previous starts. He threw 26 splitters, down 2.4 mph from an average of 85 mph. His sweeper, which averages 81.7 mph, sat at 78.1 mph on the 11 times he used it, never above 80.5 mph.
The 91 mph sinker that McMahon mashed over the left-field wall in the first inning was the fastest of the 17 pitches Hicks had thrown to begin the game. Five of his fastballs clocked in at 90 mph or below, something he had done only once in nine previous starts.
Prioritizing quick contact to pitch deeper into games, Hicks said from the outset of his transition to the starting rotation that he didn’t intend to match the velocity records he set as a reliever. He’s shown a tendency to pace himself while reserving his premium fuel for the biggest situations.
This was different, but it didn’t seem to matter.
Hicks waved off Dave Groeschner when the Giants’ trainer came to check on him between innings and retired 11 Rockies in a row after McMahon’s homer.
Pitching on an extra day of rest, too, if Hicks’ downturn in velocity is related to the strain put on him by the workload of a starting pitcher, then his ability to adapt has to be a positive sign for the remainder of the season. Now at 53 innings, Hicks is on pace to surpass his workload from last season — 65⅔ innings — by the first week of June. He has never thrown more than 77⅔ innings, which came during his rookie season in 2018.
Notable
Related Articles
Luis Matos enters exclusive company as SF Giants finally win 3 in a row
SF Giants to give Marco Luciano ‘a good shot’ at shortstop job
How Filipina American DJ Umami brings Bay Area ‘flavor’ to SF Giants games at Oracle Park
SF Giants snap Rockies’ 7-game win streak, get Blake Snell back next
Reggie Crawford could be in SF Giants’ bullpen by end of this season
With his RBI single in the fifth inning, LaMonte Wade Jr. tied the score at 1 and also extended his on-base streak to 19 games. The Brewers’ William Contreras went 0-for-4, snapping his streak at 25 games, leaving only the Padres’ Luis Arraez (22 games) ahead of Wade on the list of the longest active streaks in the majors.
The go-ahead knock was provided by Matt Chapman, whose RBI single into right field was the 11th consecutive plate appearance he reached base safely. Grounding out in his next at-bat, Chapman had to settle for the longest streak without making an out since Brandon Belt (11; Aug. 22-25, 2020) and the most consecutive at-bats with a hit since Brandon Crawford (seven; July 9-11, 2021).
Heliot Ramos slugged his first home run since being called up to tack on an insurance run in the sixth inning.
Up next
The Giants will use Monday’s offday to fly across the country for a third time this season, scheduled to land in Pittsburgh around 7 p.m. local time.
RHP Logan Webb (4-4, 3.03) will start the first of three games at PNC Park on Tuesday against LHP Martín Pérez (1-3, 4.86), with first pitch scheduled for 3:40 p.m. PT. LHP Blake Snell (0-3, 11.73) will make his return to the rotation Wednesday against the first of two fireballers on the mound for the Pirates, RHP Jared Jones (3-4, 2.89), followed by RHP Paul Skenes (1-0, 2.70) against RHP Mason Black (0-1, 7.70) or a possible Giants bullpen game in the series finale.