Could this right-hander’s spot in the SF Giants’ rotation be in jeopardy?
MLB: Rally against Arizona Diamondbacks falls short as San Francisco Giants lose for the fifth time in six games
SAN FRANCISCO – Jordan Hicks had lost six straight decisions as a starting pitcher last season when the Giants decided to move the right-hander from the rotation to the bullpen.
With wins once again proving to be elusive for Hicks in 2025, manager Bob Melvin could soon be tempted to make a similar move.
Hicks, making his ninth start of the season on Wednesday, didn’t pitch poorly but was still charged with five earned runs on seven hits in what became an 8-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before an announced crowd of 30,078 at Oracle Park.
Hicks, looking for his first victory since March 31, only lasted two-plus innings before he was replaced by fellow right-hander Hayden Birdsong with two runners on in the third.
Birdsong promptly allowed a three-run homer to third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who drove a 96-mph fastball to left field for a 6-2 Arizona lead.
Hicks was coming off a six-strikeout performance against the Minnesota Twins last Friday in which he allowed three runs over six innings. But he wasn’t quite as crisp against Arizona as the Giants, despite a late rally, lost for the fifth time in six games.
“I thought his stuff was pretty good again,” Melvin said of Hicks. “Had some hard ground balls find some holes. At some point in time, you’d think they would be hit at somebody.
“But (Birdsong didn’t have) his best stuff either. He gave up some early runs and put us in a hole.”
Hicks said he “got the ground balls I wanted. They’re finding holes, and I don’t really know what else to do about that. It’s just baseball.”
Back in this year’s rotation after spring training, Hicks was brilliant in his first start of the season on March 31, as he struck out six and did not allow an earned run over six innings in 7-2 Giants win over his hometown Houston Astros at Diakin Park.
But after Wednesday, Hicks, for the season, is 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in 47.1 innings. That’s the fifth-highest ERA among the 108 starters across MLB who have started at least nine games.
Asked after Wednesday’s game about Hicks’ status in the rotation, Melvin said, “it’s right after the game. It’s really hard to talk about those things right now.”
Hicks started 20 games last season for the Giants, going 4-7 with a 4.07 ERA over 98.2 innings. His last nine starts were the issue, though, as he went 0-6 from May 31 to July 23, with 22 walks compared to 42 strikeouts.
The Giants are off Thursday and Hicks’ spot in the rotation doesn’t come up again until May 20 when San Francisco hosts the Kansas City Royals. If Hicks doesn’t get the start, the Giants could use Birdsong in that spot or turn to left-hander Kyle Harrison, who started 24 games with the team last season.
For now, Hicks who is in the second year of a four-year, $44 million deal he signed with the Giants in Jan. 2024, a contract he agreed to partly because he wanted an opportunity to start, isn’t going to worry about a move back to the ‘pen.
“I’m just going to go out there every time put my best foot forward,” Hicks said. “That’s really all I can do is (turn) the page, shut the book on the bad outings, and then grow from the good ones. Take the positives from the bad games.
“I feel like there was a high percentage of ground balls today, and that is ideal for me as a ground ball pitcher. It just didn’t find the guys. Just got to live with it and move on.”
The Giants trailed 8-2 after the top of the fourth before they started to chip away at Arizona’s lead.
Heliot Ramos finished with three RBI and Jung Hoo Lee homered for the second straight day. The Giants then loaded the bases in the ninth and scored once to cut the Diamondbacks’ advantage to one, but Christian Koss popped out to shallow center field.
In the eighth, with Koss aboard, Ramos reached on an infield single hit down the third base line. After he rounded second, Koss ran face-first into Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. Hurt and on the ground, Koss was tagged out as he could not get back to second base.
But after the umpires conferred, the Diamondbacks were called for obstruction, Koss was awarded second base and Ramos remained at first. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo came out to argue, and was soon ejected by first base umpire Nic Lentz.
In a bit of comic relief, Lovullo motioned to eject the four umpires who made the obstruction ruling.
The commotion was all for naught, though, as Flores popped out with two out to end the threat.
FITZGERALD UPDATE: Tyler Fitzgerald began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday night, but it remains unclear when the injured second baseman will be able to return to the Giants.
Fitzgerald was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 1, with a left rib fracture, and the Giants’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park marked the 13th game he’s had to miss. Melvin said the Giants have different schedules for Fitzgerald’s return, “depending on how he’s doing, what we feel like he needs, how he’s responding each day. It would be nice to get him back sooner than later.”
Originally Published: May 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM PDT
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