According to the Boston Globe's Tim Healey, the Red Sox could possibly be activating RHP Jordan Hicks on Friday. The 100+ mph flamethrower started as a 21-year-old rookie reliever out of the Cardinals' bullpen in 2018 and stayed there until his trade to the Blue Jays in 2023. When he entered free agency that offseason, he signed a four-year, $44M contract with the San Francisco Giants.
Then, on June 15th, the infamous Devers trade took place, and he was shipping up to Boston. The catch was that he was on the 15-day injured list with an injured toe.
He made his first rehab start last night on Sunday, and he didn't do too well. He started the game and couldn't even get past the first inning. He allowed two earned runs while walking one and giving up three hits. While they sent him out as a starter, the Red Sox are projected to keep him as a reliever.
Before the injury, he had only struck out 43 batters with an ERA of 6.47. His true weakness is giving up hits as he's suffering with a 10.9 H/9 in his 13 games played this season, and with the lowest ERA+ of his career at 59.
With Andrew Bailey, who de-emphasizes fastballs, this may help him. Over this season, Hicks has used his sinker 53% of the time, and batters are batting over .300 against that pitch. However, his secondary pitches, like his sweeper and his four-seam fastball, batters are hitting under .250 with 22 strikeouts. Hopefully, he'll improve, and he's only 28 years old, but struggling in AAA can raise a lot of red flags. If he does improve, then there's a great late-inning pitcher for their bullpen to complement Bernardino, Whitlock, and Chapman.