Hicks, sick and sore, makes no excuses after the Astros game originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Sometime next week, Jordan Hicks will surpass his career high for innings pitched. And the season isn’t even half over yet.
But the converted reliever refuses to blame an increased workload for any of his struggles, including Tuesday night 3-1 loss for the Houston Astros at Oracle Park.
The game marked Hicks’ second consecutive start where he failed to go more than five innings, which would seem to indicate that he is tired.
It didn’t help that he was battling flu-like symptoms and back tightness, but Hicks tried to remain confident when speaking in the Giants’ clubhouse afterward.
“The last two [starts] It hasn’t been ideal, not going at least five or six,” Hicks said. “I think I’ll have a good comeback against the Cubs, hopefully, and then I’ll go from there. Like, take it one day at a time. I feel like it was a good process, a fun journey.”
Hicks went 4 2/3 innings against the Astros, bringing his season total to 71 2/3. That’s six innings shy of his previous career high of 77 2/3 innings, which he logged during his rookie season as a reliever for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Before his last two starts, Hicks was durable and reliable. He pitched five innings or more in 11 of his first 12 starts for San Francisco and posted an impressive 2.82 ERA heading into Tuesday’s game.
The Astros hit him with five hits and three runs, however – two coming in the fifth inning on Alex Bregman’s infield single that third baseman Matt Chapman ran in front of shortstop Brett Wisely to hit before committing a throwing error to the first.
“Based on what he was facing today, the line didn’t look great, but I thought he pitched really well,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He hasn’t thrown seven or eight innings, but he’s kept us in basically every game he’s pitched.”
Hicks barely made it to the mound.
After Monday’s game, a reporter approached Hicks to talk, only for the 27-year-old to tell him to stay away because he wasn’t feeling well.
In the days leading up to his debut against the Astros, Hicks tried to rest as much as he could. But all of this caused a bit of a backache.
Hicks refused to use illness and body aches as an excuse. In fact, he said it helped him lock himself away.
“I felt like it appealed to me more,” Hicks said. “My slider was really good and my sinker looked like I was making some swings below the zone with it in big counts.”
Hicks was treated with IV fluids on Monday and Tuesday, with coaches and teammates checking on him regularly throughout the game. Hicks said he would have gone deeper into the game if he had been healthy.
“It’s definitely not the way I would have liked it to be, but it’s part of a long season,” Hicks said when asked how he prepared for the game even though he didn’t feel well. “Overall, I felt like my stuff was pretty sharp. I really liked where everything was. I feel that every race [Houston scored] came with a ball that wasn’t hit that hard, but they put themselves in a good position.”
