ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The St. Louis Cardinals quietly had the 3rd best bullpen in the National League in both 2019 and 2020. They'll be making a lot more noise this season with the expected return of Jordan Hicks.
Hicks was hardest-throwing pitcher in baseball in 2018 and 2019, before his injury. He may be one of three arms at Mike Shildt's disposal that can reach 100+ MPH in 2021.
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The 24-year-old, who is now 20 months removed from Tommy John surgery, threw his first bullpen session of Spring Training for the Cardinals on Wednesday and Shildt definitely liked what he heard.
"Very favorable," "I didn't see him ... but all the feed back from the pitching coaches and from Jordan was favorable. The ball was coming out really clean. Had life to it and we'll see how he recovers today. But a very positive first day for Jordan Hicks, no question about it."
Even if Hicks' heater doesn't come back with as much velocity as in previous seasons, he's also has a slider that opponents have batted .118 against in the Majors.
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As far as other bullpen arms, Shildt was asked about players like John Gant, Alex Reyes and Genesis Cabrera who could be fighting for a role either in the bullpen or the starting rotation:
Ryan Helsley: The pitcher says he plans to focus on a bullpen role this yea. Shildt says it will be a "reliever's workload" for him to start this spring.
Cabrera : "We anticipate him being in the bullpen," Shildt says.
Reyes: He will be given the chance to earn a spot in the starting rotation, but Shildt says, as he's also said in the past, that they're still worried about throwing too many innings too quickly at the 26-year-old. He has only pitched a total of 72.2 MLB innings, after dealing with a number of major arm surgeries that began in 2017.
Gant: "Similar deal" to Reyes, he's getting a shot at the starting rotation as well.
Shildt also mentioned Daniel Ponce de Leon, Johan Oviedo, Matthew Liberatore and Zach Thompson as pitchers they're also "keeping an eye on" for multiple roles.
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