SCOTTSDALE -- The Giants will have a competition for their final rotation spot, but it wouldn't have shocked anyone if they came to camp with plans to have multiple pitchers compete for two spots this spring. Buster Posey was not the one who signed Jordan Hicks to be a starter, but from the start of the offseason the president of baseball operations has been adamant that the right-hander's role isn't changing.
It was an up and down first year in orange and black for Hicks, who ended the 2024 MLB season in the bullpen, and team officials did give him a heads up that they might add rotation help in the offseason. Even with Justin Verlander now in camp with fellow veterans Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, Hicks is locked into the rotation. Posey and new general manager Zack Minasian feel good about that, in part because of how often they ran into Hicks in the offseason.
The Houston native spent the entire winter in San Francisco, working out at Oracle Park in an effort to build more stamina for his second full season as a starter. He often would run into Posey and Minasian, who also has noted how much work Erik Miller put in at the ballpark.
Hicks said he's up about 15 pounds from the end of last season and about eight to 10 pounds from his weight on Opening Day. Most of the new muscle is in his legs, which wore down in June and July last year as his production tailed off.
"I think he's much more comfortable and more confident to get where he needs to go this year," manager Bob Melvin said.
For Hicks, that hopefully will be about 150 innings. He threw 109 2/3 last year, easily a career-high, with all but 11 of them coming as a starter. The Giants feel comfortable pushing him into the 150-inning range this year, which is really where most back-end starters end up these days.
Hicks' velocity tailed off as the innings piled up last season, but when physically right, he was a huge boost for the rotation. Through his first 15 starts, Hicks had a 2.82 ERA and 3.70 FIP. As he transitioned from late relief work, he gave Melvin five innings in 12 of those first 15 starts.
San Francisco Giants
It's that sample that has the Giants so excited about 2025. While Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and others will vie for the fifth spot in the rotation, Hicks is locked in with Webb, Verlander and Ray.
"That's not an easy thing to do, what he was doing," Melvin said. "I think he took a lot from last year into this year and is applying it now. I think it's a better mindset. Physically, he's better prepared for it. Just watching his bullpens, the way he goes through his bullpens, it's more starter mode than a reliever trying to be a starter."
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Eye-Opening Performance
Managers hate naming early standouts in bullpen sessions because you're always leaving a few guys out. But Melvin couldn't help but marvel at the fact that non-roster invitee Joel Peguero hit 101 mph during his session on Thursday.
The right-hander spent last season in Double-A with the Detroit Tigers and previously has pitched in the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals organizations. He is still looking for his big league debut despite first reaching Triple-A in 2021, and it's not hard to see why. Peguero has a 4.69 ERA in the minors and gave up 20 runs in 21 1/3 innings in Triple-A for the Nationals in 2023, the last time he was a step away from the big leagues. But the Giants liked what they saw in winter ball.
The strikeout rates have at times been low for someone with such a live arm, but the Giants have been encouraged by how much Peguero has been around the plate in early bullpen sessions. You can't teach 101, so the 27-year-old certainly will have some extra eyes on him this spring.
The Full Slate
The Giants announced that they will broadcast all 162 games in Spanish this season as part of a new three-year deal with Lazer Media. That's a big step up from last season's 137 broadcasts, and marks the first time since 1998 that the Giants are broadcasting every game in Spanish. The games will be called by Erwin Higueros, Tito Fuentes and Carlos Orellana.
