St. Louis Cardinals: Jordan Hicks could use a gut check

The St. Louis Cardinals recently reassigned one of their young fireball pitchers to the minor league camp with directions to work on some items. These include a reality check.

The St. Louis Cardinals just last week sent Jordan Hicks to the minor league camp. I covered the news and you can read about it here. What was absent from my coverage was the why of the move. At the time of my coverage, fans were simply told that Hicks had been instructed to work on some things.

As of 4:17PM on Monday (yesterday), Derrick Goold was noted as replying to a St. Louis Cardinals fan via social media noting that Hicks’ reassignment may have had more to do with personal issues than performance issues. Perhaps this was the real reason for manager Mike Matheny‘s demure behavior when asked about the demotion.

If you are interested in more of a discussion of Matheny’s behavior and body language jump here to read my investigation.

Back to Hicks… Here’s a tweet capturing Goold’s comments:

One must vigorously shake his/her head in response: Jordan Hicks simply cannot start his career in a manner in which he isn’t showing up on time, etc. Yes, the arm is young and, yes, Hicks is young in years but lacking professionalism of this caliber simply will not do.

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals: One move they don’t want to see each NL contender make
• Cardinals: 6 stars St. Louis should trade for this off-season
• Cardinals: Jose Quintana’s Market Price is Overvalued
• Cardinals: MLB writer compares Jordan Walker to Julio Rodriguez
• Cardinals: Paul Goldschmidt builds home for single mother and her family

Having said that, I remember when another young arm was “reprimanded” for his behavior. Albeit this behavior was related more to social media behaviors than professionalism of showing up on time but Carlos Martinez was a promising young arm who needed someone to take him under their wing.

If it is true that Hicks’ “teammates took not[e] of this and mentioned it to him” as Goold notes, then perhaps someone is already volunteering to shepherd the young padawan into being a good and responsible teammate.

In looking back at Martinez, we know that Yadier Molina was a big influence over Martinez’s reigning-in of his social media presence, drinking, and partying. Perhaps Yadi can have a good talking with Hicks. Additionally, Martinez himself would be a great fit to introduce the real ropes to Hicks.

Sadly, Martinez’s world was rocked by the death of his close friend Oscar Taveras and this was one of the final straws that both broke his back and woke him up leading to his behavioral changes. Let us hope that a shocking death isn’t necessary to wake Jordan Hicks.

Next: 6-man rotation?

A demotion of this nature could well be enough of a wake-up call for Jordan Hicks. Even if that is so, it would be even better if accompanied by mentoring from some of the veterans. Thanks for reading and GO CARDINALS!