Red Sox flame-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks to ditch sweeper and ‘throw the pitch’ he knows ‘is right and have that conviction'

One of the key pieces from the Rafael Devers trade was hard-throwing righty Jordan Hicks. The late-inning reliever was intended to be a complementary piece to All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman, giving the Red Sox a high-octane duo at the back of their bullpen.

Since the Father’s Day trade, Hicks has been a disappointment, and since he was activated off the injured list on June 30, he’s allowed 12 runs, nine earned runs on 14 hits, two homers, and eight walks in 13 innings of work. Overall with the Red Sox, he’s posted a 6.23 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 14 appearances. He’s also hit three batters while picking up one save and two holds but hasn’t been given a high-leverage spot since in two weeks.

Hicks allowed one of those two homers on Monday night to the Astros’ Ramón Urías in the Sox' series opener loss to Houston at Daikin Park.

Despite all the challenges, Hicks believes he is "trending in the right direction."

Hicks plans to throw his fastball more often, intends to stop using his sweeper, and aims to feel comfortable telling the Sox’ catchers no.

“If I’m going to be giving up these kinds of runs out of the bullpen, I should really be throwing the pitch I want to throw,” Hicks said Tuesday before the Sox’ 14-1 beatdown of the Astros. “It’s something I had to realize. That’s probably my mindset moving forward. You have to throw what feels good in the situation. If you have any second thoughts, you’re not going to throw your best pitch.”

With his new focus on throwing his fastball more, Hicks feels that his heater is in a “really good spot” and that he “probably should utilize it more.”

He throws his sinker and four-seam fastball a combined 63.7% of the time, according to Baseball Savant. Hicks’ fastball velocity has topped out at 97.5 mph, which is in the 93rd percentile. He’s also in the 95th percentile in barrel percentage (4.2) and the 96th percentile in ground ball percentage (57.8).

“I already use it a ton, so it’s more about knowing when to use the fastball,” Hicks said. “Like I just struck out (Mauricio) Dubón on a heater the other day. ‘Why am I throwing the slider or the sweeper?’ And that’s on me.”

Hicks has featured his sweeper 257 times this season (23.7% of the time); opponents are hitting .265 against him and have a .490 slugging percentage.

“I need to take some ownership, throw the pitch I know is right, and have that conviction,” he said. “So it all comes down to me taking some ownership, commanding the game a little bit more. Knowing what I know is best in that situation and trusting myself.”

The right-handed hurler wants to be more confident in shaking off his catcher whenever he feels that another pitch would be better in the at-bat.

Hicks is considering just eliminating the sweeper altogether from his arsenal and only featuring the four-seam fastball, sinker, split-finger, and slider.

“I like the newer slider because it’s more firm. It kind of looks like a heater longer,” he said. “The sweeper just has a lot of time for them to see it and kind of pop. And you see he kind of thinks it’s coming at him, but then he readjusts. ... So the harder one definitely plays more. It looks like the heater is longer. So if you’re thinking about tunneling, it’s going to look like the heater longer.”

Even with ditching the sweeper from his bag of tricks, he needs to bring down his walk total. He’s in the 24th percentile in walk percentage at 9.9%.

“He’s throwing the ball well,” said Alex Cora. “He hung a [sweeper] yesterday. We trust this guy. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Boston has Hicks under contract for the next two years and owes him $24 million. He’s had “open communication” with the Sox’ pitching development side on changing up his pitch mix.

“Which ones aren’t getting hit in the zone? It’s the harder, shorter one,” he said. “I have to see the ball go out to realize it. OK, maybe take a deeper look into which one is more effective.”

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

The other key pitcher acquired in the Devers swap back in June was left-hander Kyle Harrison.

After he was acquired in the trade, the Red Sox stashed Harrison in Triple-A Worcester to have him work on his pitching arsenal before he gets another opportunity to crack the majors again this season.

Harrison began his WooSox career on June 26, when he started on the road against Scranton Wilkes-Barre and lasted just four innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, one walk, one homer, and four strikeouts.

The southpaw has been a work in progress but has been trending in the right direction. In his last start, he went five innings, giving up two hits and no earned runs with three walks and seven strikeouts on 99 pitches (61 for strikes).

“Two starts ago, it was electric,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said after Harrison’s last outing. “He was completely in control of the outing from start to finish—62 out of 86 pitches for strikes, everything in the zone, back-door slider, fastball at the top, throwing the fastball in the zone, swings and misses—it was awesome. That’s a major league starter right there.”

The southpaw has impressed Tracy; even though he’s had some rougher moments, he’s also shown tremendous potential.

“That’s a major league starter right there,” Tracy said. “We’ve seen flashes; we just have to be consistent with it. But there’s certainly no question, having watched him, that the guy’s got really good stuff.” 

Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito anchor the Red Sox's current rotation. Walker Buehler has been inconsistent, and Dustin May is coming off his best outing with the Sox, albeit it’s just his second appearance. Harrison is an option to get a look in the rotation before the year comes to a close and make a spot start to provide extra rest for the other starters.

Consistency will be important for Harrison, and one of the key reasons he is potentially recalled to the big leagues is to help the Red Sox make a playoff push. Harrison will pitch for the WooSox on Wednesday night against the Iowa Cubs.

DUSTIN MAY WAS IMPRESSIVE

In his second start since being acquired from the Dodgers on July 21, May dominated the Astros lineup on Tuesday night.

The visibly emotional May tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out six in the Red Sox’ 14-1 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.

“I definitely try to ride the highs,” May said. “I’ve had a lot of lows this year. So whenever I do have the good moments, I try to let my brain know that, ‘Hey, you got it. It’s still in here, for sure.’”

Outside of his impressive performance on the mound, May was fired up throughout his outing, including shouting and clapping into his glove as he walked off the mound following striking out Houston’s outfielder Jacob Melton.

“I haven’t had a good one in a minute, so this was huge,” May said.

May's emotion on the mound has be reminiscent of former Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta, who was known for his demonstrative demeanor when walking off the mound between innings.

Tuesday’s win marked the fourth time in May's career where he went six scoreless innings, and it was the first time since May 6, 2023, when the Dodgers visited the Padres. It was also just the second time he struck out eight batters in six frames in his career.

“It was great,” said May, who lasted only 3 2/3 innings while being tagged with the loss in his Sox’ debut on Aug. 6. “I didn’t really have a great first one, but to be able to come back and have a good one like this against a really good team, it was huge. Today was definitely one of my better days of the year. Hopefully, [I'll] be able to stack it and keep the snowball going.”

May wasn’t sharp in his debut versus the Royals last week, but to be fair, it was his first start in 10 days. A little rust and nerves about being with his new team could have been a big reason for his ineffective outing.

“I didn’t really have a great first one, but to be able to come back and have a good one like this against a really good team, it was huge,” he said.

May looked a lot like the pitcher the Red Sox envisioned they’d be getting from the Dodgers; he was effective at throwing strikes, and his velocity was up. His fastball topped out at 97.8 mph, and he averaged 96.6 mph on his four-seam fastball and 95.6 on his sinker, according to Baseball Savant. Even with his velocity up, there was something else Cora noticed that impressed him.

“Strikes,” Cora said. “It was 85 percent first-pitch strikes, and when you do that, then you’ll have nights like that. He was in command and was able to slow everything down. Did a good job with the runners, too. This kid is good.”

Cora didn’t pay much attention to May’s velocity in the game.

“I paid attention to (him) throwing strikes. And he did a good job mixing it up,” said Cora. “The sweeper was good, the backdoor. He used his fastball early on. Both of them—the sinker and the four-seamer."

Boston traded for the 27-year-old at the trade deadline for outfield prospects James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard. A move at the time was met with criticism from the fanbase, mainly due to Boston being unable to trade for Minnesota starter Joe Ryan. After Tuesday’s win over the Astros, May offered a glimpse of his potential on the mound.

“I’m going to ride this high for as long as I can. Like I said, I haven’t had many highs this year or in the last three years,” May said. “So just to be able to be pitching right now is a good thing in itself. And to be able to go out and throw like that against a team that’s very, very good. It was a lot of fun.”

OTHER MiLB PITCHING NOTES

- WooSox right-handed starter Tyler Uberstine took the mound in the series opener on the road against the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday night. He finished the outing, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

- Shane Drohan began his rehab with High-A Greenville on Tuesday. He went two innings, allowing an earned run on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. The southpaw has been on the MiLB 7-day IL with left forearm inflammation.

- David Sandlin worked out of the bullpen again, getting two outs in the eighth inning versus Iowa. He had some command issues, walking three while his fastball touched 99.9 mph.

- Righty Austin Ehrlicher went 4 2/3 innings, giving up two hits and no runs with four walks and three strikeouts for Greenville. In four appearances for the Drive, he’s 1-0 with a 0.56 ERA (two starts) with 18 strikeouts to 11 walks in 16 innings.

- Zack Kelly went 1 2/3 innings, allowing one hit, and recorded three strikeouts in relief for the WooSox.