What was thought to be just tendinitis in his triceps has turned into much more for reliever Jordan Hicks and the Cardinals.
An MRI examination Monday revealed that the 22-year-old Hicks has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
A Cardinals press release states that the team is determining the next course of action but it seems unlikely that Hicks would pitch much, if any, the rest of the season. Tommy John surgery certainly would rule him out for the rest of this season and part of the next season.
Hicks, who was on his way to his 15th save in 16 tries, had to be removed from Saturday's game with two out in the ninth inning.
The right-hander, in his second year in the majors, has a 2-2 mark with a 3.14 earned run average and 14 saves. Hicks, who by far has thrown more 100 mph pitches than anybody in baseball _ he averages 101.1 mph on his sinker _ struck out 31 in 28 2/3 innings. He suffered his injury while throwing a slider to strike out David Fletcher of the Los Angeles Angels.
This season, Hicks has thrown 48 of the 50 fastest pitches in the majors, topping out at 104.3 mph against Chicago's Victor Caratini.
Converted starter Carlos Martinez is expected to take over most of the closer duties although Andrew Miller has had some experience at that and John Gant has three saves this season.
The Cardinals have had difficulty with elbow issues troubling their closers since they won their last World Series in 2011.
Jason Motte, their closer at the end of that season, needed Tommy John surgery at the start of the 2013 season and wasn't the same again. He is out of baseball.
Trevor Rosenthal, the Cardinals' single-season saves leader with 48 in 2015, had to undergo Tommy John surgery late in the 2017 season and never pitched for the Cardinals again. After sitting out last season, he signed with Washington before this season but just was released by the Nationals two days ago after experiencing severe control problems.
