2025 stats (with SFG): 13 G 48.2 IP 6.47 ERA / 3.65 FIP, 43 K, 20 BB, 3 HR, 1.54 WHIP, 56.4 GB%, +0.7 fWAR
Unlike Kyle Harrison’s player review, a look at his whole season won’t be necessary to get a sense of his performance. The Giants have not been able to build up their pitching depth over the past few years and consistent process of decision-making led to the team counting on arms that have been huge injury risks.
But also, throwing a bit of money at a starter turned reliever turned guy who hoped to start again.
Last year, the Giants signed Blake Snell, a pitcher who had pitched more than 130 innings in a season just twice in his career and signed him so late in the offseason that he wasn’t ready for Opening Day. The knock-on effects of this led to Jordan Hicks, a starter turned reliever turned back to starter getting pushed in his bid to return to a major league rotation in order to cover the gap. The result?
Shoulder problems that led to a total spinout last season that continued into this one.
I had forgotten that his first start in 2025 saw him pitch into the 7th inning after completing 6 shutout, and that’s because he carried a 7.55 ERA over his next 8. Plenty of hard contact and an inability to get the strikeout when he absolutely needed one; but, at the time, he — like the team — stormed out the gate, and rather than remain skeptical about what had transpired the previous season, Brady simply, and correctly, left it at this in his recap of Hicks’ first 2025 start:
With a full offseason of preparing to be a starter, and working with the training staff to gain muscle weight and increase stamina, can he be the pitcher who had a 2.33 ERA through his first 11 starts last year? Or is he the player who had a 6.42 ERA over the next nine starts, was moved to the bullpen, struggled there, and was shut down? The answer to that question is one that will help determine whether the Giants flirt with 90 wins or 70.
The Giants moved him to the bullpen midway through May and that only made matters worse. He couldn’t find the zone. He hit the IL with a toe problem and that’s where he was when the Giants traded him to the Red Sox as part of the package that landed them Rafael Devers. He was very bad with Boston once activated, walking 12 while striking out just 15 in 18.2 relief innings. He spent a good chunk of September with a similar issue to what ended his first Giants season in 2024: shoulder trouble.
Now, it’s reasonable to land on his one good month last season being the absolute outlier, but that’s only the case if the context is that he’s supposed to be a starting pitcher. That four-year deal he signed with the previous front office was more like an experiment and one that didn’t work out. The Red Sox, however, might have still traded for a reliever who could help them out if he can recover some health. His average fastball velocity as a starter necessarily dipped, but once he was back to relieving full-time and recovered from his toe issue in 2025, Boston enjoyed a 100 mph sinker-thrower… albeit one who’s still looking for command. Here’s some Statcast lollipops to illustrate my point:
That velocity will still land him on a major league roster… at least in 2026. It’s possible that the injuries plus the ineffectiveness have already piled up so much that Boston could walk away from the final two years of his deal, but that’s not the Giants’ problem.