Jordan Hicks has emerged as a dominant late-inning weapon for the White Sox, giving Chicago's bullpen a much clearer path forward.
On Wednesday night, the Chicago White Sox secured a series victory over the Texas Rangers with a 4-2 win in the rubber match.
A 4-for-4 day from infielder Chase Meidroth included multiple RBI singles and helped the White Sox jump out to an early lead. Starter Anthony Kay battled through five innings of two-run baseball, lowering his season ERA to 4.21 and departing with a 3-2 lead heading into the sixth. From there, the White Sox bullpen took over and stole the show.
Jordan Hicks, Grant Taylor, and Bryan Hudson combined to pitch four innings without allowing a single hit or walk. Taylor and Hudson retired the final nine batters of the game in order, with seven of those outs coming via strikeout.
For a team that has dealt with the occasional bullpen blunder this season, it was refreshing to see the White Sox take the lead and slam the door. And there are a few pitchers in this bullpen who probably do not get enough credit for their dominance. None are more deserving of praise than Jordan Hicks.
Hicks had some promising stretches earlier in the season. From April 12 through May 13, Hicks made 10 appearances over the course of a full month without allowing a run. But during that same period, he had a WHIP over 2.00, allowing 11 hits and eight walks over nine innings pitched. So while he found a way to work himself out of jams, Hicks never made it easy, and he was rarely missing bats.
A blowup outing against the Chicago Cubs on May 15 hurt his overall numbers, and at the end of May, Hicks was placed on the IL with a right lat strain. At that point, he had a 5.60 ERA on the season with 15 strikeouts over 17.2 innings pitched. It looked as if the offseason trade between the White Sox and Boston Red Sox was truly just Chicago taking on a bad contract for an unproductive relief pitcher so the White Sox could bring David Sandlin into the organization.
Now after spending a month on the IL, Hicks returned and has been as dominant as any relief pitcher in baseball, providing major value to the White Sox bullpen.
Over his last 10 appearances for Chicago, Jordan Hicks has pitched 10.2 innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while recording 18 strikeouts and surrendering no runs. He has a perfect 0.00 ERA, a 0.29 FIP, and a 0.38 WHIP.
With this version of Hicks in the bullpen, things have become much simpler for White Sox manager Will Venable late in games. Bryan Hudson still has a 2.08 ERA on the season. Sean Newcomb has been really strong, posting a 2.41 ERA over 56 innings. And Grant Taylor has a 2.63 ERA with 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
That gives the White Sox four pitchers they can deploy to protect late leads. Chicago could flirt with having a legitimately good bullpen with plenty of depth if they add another arm at the upcoming trade deadline.
It has been a completely unexpected development, but Hicks has essentially stepped into the role the White Sox envisioned for Seranthony Dominguez before the season.
Chicago still does not have a solidified closer. Dominguez is the team leader with 12 saves, Taylor has five, Hudson has four, and Newcomb has three. All of them have been used in high-leverage situations, and Hicks is beginning to earn that opportunity as well. But with Jordan Hicks developing into a reliable right-handed relief arm, something the White Sox desperately needed, the path to a lockdown bullpen is becoming much clearer.
