St. Louis Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks last pitched in a Major League Game on June 22, 2019. 634 days later he was back on the mound in a major league game coming on to pitch in the fifth inning of their game against the Mets on Sunday, facing leading off hitter Luis Guillorme. After jumping ahead 0-2 in the count, Hicks and Guillorme battled in a 22-pitch at-bat, including 15 pitches fouled off. Guillorme eventually drew a walk.
Hicks gave Guillorme credit, “Way to battle.” However, it wasn’t all bad for Hicks who underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2019 and opted out of the 2020 season as a high-risk individual (Type 1 diabetes). Hicks hit six pitches over 100 mph and while he said he could have been a little sharper, he was satisfied with the work. Hicks last pitched in a backfield game a few days ago against a B-squad of Washington Nationals, and only threw fastballs and that was the plan for his one-inning of work on Sunday; throw fastballs and if he got ahead in the count, try his slider. Hicks said it was good enough to induce foul balls, but not swings and misses.
Enjoy every pitch of @lguillorme13‘s EPIC 22-pitch at-bat. 💪 pic.twitter.com/mkugnUrm4k
— New York Mets (@Mets) March 14, 2021
