Blue Jays trade for Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks

The St. Louis Cardinals were a-sellin’, and the Toronto Blue Jays came a-buyin’.

The Blue Jays made their first move of the 2023 MLB trade deadline by acquiring St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks in exchange for prospects Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein.

Hicks is purely a rental relief pitcher since he’s a free agent at the end of the season, but he brings some much-needed reprieve for an over-worked Blue Jays bullpen. Especially considering the fact that closer Jordan Romano recently went on the injured list, the timing of this trade could not be any better for the Blue Jays.

By getting ahead of the market and landing Hicks now, the Blue Jays just picked up one of the best relievers on the trade market.

In our breakdown of 5 pitchers the Blue Jays should target at the trade deadline, Hicks figured to be on the move and was an ideal trade target.

“After struggling the last few years with the Cardinals, he’s reemerged as their closer and has a 3.67 ERA in 40 games with eight saves. His 31.2% strikeout rate is the highest of his career, and his 12.7% walk rate is the lowest of his career.

Hicks’ ability to throw gas at 100+ MPH is one of his biggest selling points, and while the Blue Jays already have a ton of swing-and-miss in their bullpen, another fireballer back there wouldn’t hurt one bit.”

Even if Romano’s stay on the IL is a short one, beefing up the bullpen is a smart move by this front office. Despite the Cardinals being a tire fire on the whole, Hicks is enjoying a bounce-back season.

His fastball is legit and suddenly gives this Blue Jays bullpen even more firepower in late relief. Toronto’s relief pitchers already had the second-highest strikeout rate in baseball at 26.6%, and adding Hicks with his 31.2% K rate bumps that number even higher.

It’s hard to tell if the Blue Jays are done shopping on the relief pitcher market, as they also have Chad Green waiting in the wings to join the bullpen as he progresses through his rehab stints in the minor leagues.

And as the Blue Jays attempt to juggle a six-man rotation after activating Hyun-Jin Ryu later this week, there will be even less room for another relief pitcher, anyway.