Usual flamethrower Hicks shies away from sinker in key moment

ST. LOUIS -- To fully understand the lack of confidence struggling Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks has in his sinker -- a pitch he famously threw 105 mph in 2018, 103.1 mph last July and one that has averaged 100.3 mph this season -- look to Saturday's decisive 10th inning, when he shied away from it on seven consecutive offerings to Pirates veteran Andrew McCutchen.

Hicks’ seventh pitch -- an 86.9 mph slider that came in letter-high to McCutchen and spun in the middle of the plate -- was hit 388 feet and into the seats at Busch Stadium for a tie-breaking two-run home run. That blast was the deciding run for the Cardinals on a frustration-filled day where they lost 6-3 and had to answer more questions about their formerly fire-balling righty reliever.

One such question: Why would Hicks throw seven consecutive sliders to an established hitter such as McCutchen when he has a couple of 100 mph pitches in his arsenal?

“I think he had a pitch he felt like he was landing and stuck with it, and it ended up biting him,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who watched the finish from his office after being ejected seven innings earlier for disputing balls and strikes while starter Steven Matz was on the mound. “He’s 100 percent healthy.”

Questions also came as to why the Cardinals turned to the struggling reliever in a 3-3 game heading into extra innings, and Marmol pointed to the daunting numbers game he and his staff faced with the lack of availability out of an often-overworked bullpen. Relievers Giovanny Gallegos, Zack Thompson and Drew VerHagen pitched in Friday’s victory, while Andre Pallante was not available because of a case of arm fatigue coming off a series. Matz got through just 5 2/3 innings after hitting the 110-pitch mark, and veteran reliever Chris Stratton covered the next two innings while surrendering just one run on two hits. Closer Ryan Helsley was used for four outs, but Rodolfo Castro punched a pitch to left for a double to plate the game-tying run in the eighth inning.

That left the 10th inning for Hicks, who entered Saturday having surrendered eight hits, six earned runs and eight walks in just 5 1/3 innings pitched. The Cardinals thought they might have unlocked what was ailing Hicks when they noticed that he had drifted to the third-base side of the rubber on his pitches, causing his sinker to repeatedly miss the zone. On Saturday, Hicks threw from the first-base side of the rubber, but he did not throw his sinker during the seven-pitch at-bat against McCutchen that ended in the game-deciding home run.

“The better result was throwing strikes, which he did today. They just got hit,” Marmol said.

Helsley, an All-Star who earned second-team All-MLB honors last season, said the bullpen still has confidence that Hicks can be a dominant pitcher again for the Cardinals. After an unsuccessful experiment as a starting pitcher last season, Hicks returned to the bullpen and had success late in the season with his overpowering sinker. Helsley said there is no reason why Hicks can’t be that same type of pitcher again this season.

“It’s tough, and this game is definitely humbling,” said Helsley, who exited Saturday with a 2.57 ERA on the season. “I think [Hicks] has been around long enough that he understands that. You just try to be a good friend and teammate, pick him up and tell him that there are better days ahead.”

Those better days will most likely come when Hicks discovers the command and movement on a sinker that produced success for him in the past. In 2022, he threw his sinker 65.2 percent of the time -- at an average of 99.4 mph. He induced ground balls 58.2 percent of the time, per Baseball Savant. This season, Hicks has relied on his sinker 59.1 percent of the time. He has gotten ground balls just 44.4 percent of the time. Like in 2022, Hicks’ walk rate ranks in 1st percentile, per Savant.

The lack of arms available out of the Cardinals bullpen on Saturday can be traced to a starting staff that has a 5.13 ERA and has averaged fewer than 5 1/3 innings a start over the first 15 games. Jordan Montgomery is the only starter to pitch seven innings in a game thus far, and the shortage among the starters has resulted in the bullpen being forced to cover 54 innings.

“It’s always my goal to go as far into the game as I can,” said Matz, whose pitch count soared after he walked five batters and struck out six. “I was happy they let me go 110 [pitches] because I was still feeling good. … I was happy to build that pitch count and get into the sixth, but my pitch count was pretty high early on.”