6 amazing Blue Jays moves that worked out better than planned in 2023

The trade for Jordan Hicks

If you thought the acquisition of Cabrera couldn’t be beat, well, how about reeling in the big fish in electric reliever Jordan Hicks, once again from the St. Louis Cardinals. All season long, the Jays had quite the reliable and consistent bullpen, but it lacked the flamethrowing power arm that could ultimately put them among the league’s elite. Nate Pearson was the closest thing that the Jays had in terms of a flamethrower for the back end of the bullpen. He was actually effective in the role for a short while before finally falling apart during mid-season. Not to fear, as in comes triple-digit radar freakin’ Hicks.

Ever since coming over from the Cardinals at the trade deadline, Hicks has been everything the Jays needed him to be and more. Believe it or not, as overpowering and dominant as he has been in the past, he is actually posting career-bests in ERA and strikeouts-to-walk ratio so far in his tenure with the Jays. In his 24 appearances to date, Hicks is 2-2 with a strong 2.05 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, giving up only five earned runs, six walks and 20 big-time punchouts in just 22 innings of work. More impressively, his strikeouts-to-walk ratio being greater than 3:1 marks the best ratio of his career, showing that his command and control has been superb since joining his new ballclub.

Especially now with the recent slight faltering of closer Jordan Romano due to his cracked fingernail limiting his effectiveness, Hicks may be leaned upon even more heavily as the Jays hope to nail down the playoff spot and punch their ticket into the postseason. He definitely instills that unbeatable confidence that he will get the job done every time he comes out, and that is what makes him the fierce competitor that he is.