Krukow: Jordan Hicks is ready to redefine his label in a big year for the Giants

The San Francisco Giants may not have landed the biggest fish on the market this offseason but they added quite a few pieces to get excited about. Among them is closer-turned-starter Jordan Hicks.

Hicks has a 3.85 ERA through 243 ⅓ innings in his five-year career with the large majority of those innings coming out of the bullpen. The flamethrower is now in the Giants’ starting rotation and that’s an exciting proposition.

Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow explained why he’s so excited about Hicks while appearing on Audacy’s “The TK Show” podcast this week.

“Jordan Hicks is ready to have a big year. His last outing against the A’s was spectacular,” Krukow said (10:45 in player above). “He showed true command of two fastballs, a lot of two-seam fastballs in which he was very consistent down around the knees with and he had great movement; had a lot of swing overs. He’s throwing that sinker, it had so much late movement that guys are swinging over the top of it, and then he would elevate the four-seamer above the belt across the leaders which, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Change sightlines with that fastball. He showed a great ability to exercise both of those pitches.”

Hicks threw five no-hit innings against Oakland last Saturday with 10 strikeouts and one walk. He finished spring training with 24 strikeouts and seven walks while allowing three runs on eight hits in 15 ⅓ innings.

“His slider was lights out. His split was lights out. And then he had another breaking ball that he was backing off speeds with,” Krukow continued. “So he showed three good speeds and he showed an excellent command of all of his pitches. So I’m really excited about him.”

The 27-year-old righthander has been known for his high velocity out of the bullpen as an accomplished reliever.

“Guys who have been in this game a while have been labeled. And in baseball, if you get labeled it’s hard to change that,” Krukow said. “But I think we’re watching a guy, Jordan Hicks, really define his label and to me, that’s exciting.”

Hicks is slated to make his Giants debut on Saturday in San Diego against Dylan Cease.