Giants sign hard-throwing free-agent reliever to sizeable deal

The San Francisco Giants are adding some unleaded gas to their lineup.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported on Friday that the Giants have agreed to a four-year, $44 million contract with free-agent pitcher Jordan Hicks. Passan adds that Hicks, who has mainly been a reliever to this point of his MLB career, is expected to serve as a starter for San Francisco.

Hicks, 27, is known as one of the hardest throwers in the sport. He has stunned many times with his feats on the radar gun and posted a stellar 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings last season between St. Louis and Toronto. According to FanGraphs, Hicks is averaging 100.8 mph on his fastball for his career and 100.2 mph on his sinker.

With that kind of arm, there is an obvious risk with trying to stretch Hicks out to become a starter, namely since Hicks already had Tommy John surgery in 2019. But the Giants may just ask the right-hander to serve as an opener and perhaps only for a brief period before the big-name pitcher that they recently traded for, Robbie Ray, returns around the All-Star break.