NEWSLETTER
Oof. Like I said this morning, even if a team thinks it’s just “triceps inflammation,” you get worried any time you hear about a pitcher feeling pain in something connected to his elbow. Because for Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks, it’s a worst-case scenario.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 24, 2019
A torn UCL does not always mean Tommy John surgery, but that’s the most typical path to recovery. A surgery soon would have Hicks out the rest of the way, and also most – if not all – of next season.
It’s a rough blow for Hicks and for the Cardinals, given how important he’d become in their bullpen. The Cardinals have also dealt with continued injury issues for Carlos Martinez and Alex Reyes, so it’s been a really crappy time to be a hard-throwing, killer-stuff righty in the Cardinals organization.
Now we’ll see if this makes the Cardinals – who aren’t that far behind the Cubs and Brewers in the tightly-packed Central – more aggressive in the bullpen this trade season.
