Back from a monthlong absence (the result of a “right forearm flexor strain”), Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks was up to his old tricks Thursday night, challenging Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna with a lethal two-seamer you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
That’s 104-mph cheese (well, technically 103.8, but we’ll round up for him) with more than a foot of movement. Ozuna, to his credit, fouled it off for strike two. Hicks blew him away on the very next pitch, setting Ozuna down on a wicked 102.8-mph sinker.
Not only was Hicks’ 1-1 offering the fastest pitch thrown this season, but it’s the fastest pitch anyone has thrown since 2019. Hicks is one of just two pitchers in MLB, the other being Yankees flamethrower Aroldis Chapman, to reach 105 on the radar gun, hitting that benchmark as a rookie in 2018.
Throwing that hard comes with consequences—Hicks required Tommy John surgery in 2019 and has only logged 40 1/3 innings since. But as a curiosity, Hicks’ blistering, 104-mph velocity is well worth the price of admission.
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Remarkably, Hicks’ sorcery wasn’t even the best pitching performance of the night, which belonged to Braves rookie Spencer Strider, who fanned 12 Cardinals over six shutout frames with nine of those coming in the first three innings.