St. Louis Cardinals: Jordan Hicks to make opening day roster

After fans and media thought the St. Louis Cardinals roster was set this weekend the team made a shocking move just two days before Opening Day.

The St. Louis Cardinals have decided that Jordan Hicks will join the big league club and make the Opening Day roster. This move comes as a shock as the roster was believed to be set. In a corresponding move, John Brebbia will start the season in Memphis.

Hicks started with the team early in Spring Training, but was sent to minor league camp fairly early on. There were questions about his commitment and his attitude at that time. It seems as though Hicks took that to heart and made a quick turnaround. Hicks was then called up recently to pitch and stuck with the team longer than most people expected.

The move brings along questions though. Hicks has not pitched above High-A ball and is still only 21 years old. What changed the teams mind and made them make this huge change? The other question is, who does the team remove from the 40-man roster? Those decisions are expected tomorrow so check back to Redbird Rants for updates on those moves.

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The Cardinals front office actually has to clear two spots on the 40 man for Hicks and also for Francisco Pena. At first glance there isn’t any obvious guys who will be removed, so tough decisions remain for the front office.

Hicks has electric stuff and can hit triple digits with his fastball. He was believed to be the Cardinals closer of the future, except no one expected the future to be so soon.

While Dominic Leone will still most likely start the year as the team’s closer, it’s hard to believe Hicks won’t be in the conversation if Leone struggles.

For those that aren’t familiar with Hicks here is a quick rundown. Hicks best pitch is his fastball that usually sits in the mid to upper 90s but has been known to top out around 100 mph. He pairs that with a slider and a curve ball.

Both of those pitches are very nice change of pace pitches compared to his heater. Hicks will need to continue to develop his secondary pitches to be consistently successful at the Major League level but he is an exciting addition to the roster.

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The Cardinals have been known to surprise their fans from time to time but this one came straight out of left field. Adding Hicks means the team believes he is ready, so fans should believe that until proved otherwise. What Hicks’ exact role will be remains to be seen but expect to see him in the later innings when given the opportunity.