When he’s not on the mound, Jordan Hicks is usually pretty even-keeled. He has one of the calmer demeanors in the clubhouse, and he seems perfectly content in simply keeping quiet and focusing on getting his work in.

But when Cardinals manager Oli Marmol announced the afternoon before Opening Day that Hicks would take the role as the team’s fifth starter, Hicks just couldn’t stop smiling.

“I’m just really excited,” Hicks said outside of the team dugout at Busch Stadium, another smile escaping from his lips. “I try to stay a little bit serious. That’s just who I am, but I’m just happy.”

Nearly two weeks later, Hicks will finally make that coveted first start Thursday evening at loanDepot Park in Miami. An unusual combination of off days and rainouts allowed the Cardinals to implement a four-man rotation over the first few series of the season, but they never deviated from their plans to stretch Hicks out as a starter. Marmol and pitching coach Mike Maddux kept Hicks on a tight regimen, scheduling a throwing program indicative of a normal starter’s routine. They used Hicks twice in relief — outings that technically also served as side sessions — while extending his pitch count.

Hicks has recorded four innings of relief work this season. He hasn’t allowed a run and has surrendered just one hit and two walks while striking out five. He has tempered his velocity a bit, though he remains one of the hardest throwers in the league. When you pair that with his sequencing and lethal pitch movement, you can see why the Cardinals were dedicated to turning him into a starter.

Absolute filth from @Jhicks007. pic.twitter.com/q2IpO768IB

Hicks’ path to starting pitching was far from conventional. The 25-year-old skipped Double A and Triple A entirely and debuted on the Cardinals’ major-league roster in 2018. He went 3-4 with a 3.59 ERA over 73 relief outings that season. In 2019, he emerged as one of St. Louis’ top bullpen threats and inherited the closer’s role, but he tore his UCL in mid-June and ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery. Hicks opted out of the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season but came into the 2021 season once again as one of the team’s most intriguing relief weapons until shoulder discomfort in early May wiped him out for the rest of the year.

It has been years since the Cardinals have been able to see what Hicks can display over an extended period. He’s only been able to provide tantalizing glimpses; like when he tied Yankees flamethrower Aroldis Chapman for the fastest pitch thrown in the majors (105.1 mph) in 2018, or in 2019, when he took home the title himself by lighting up the radar gun at 104.3 mph.

But while Hicks’ high velocity is his most recognizable trait, it’s something he has dialed back a bit in order to start. After all, starting has been a goal he’s had for years.

“My mentality has been to be a starter since my injury, really,” Hicks told The Athletic earlier in April. “I think it would be best for my health long-term, and it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Hicks noted the Cardinals’ history of turning relievers into formidable starters, citing Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha and Dakota Hudson as some of the reasons he’s confident he’ll be able to make the change. He also pointed to open communication methods with Marmol and Maddux that have helped him get to this point.

“It’s always going to be about communication,” Hicks said. “It’s about me talking with Oli, me talking with Mad Dog and the training staff. We’ve already established this spring that (communication) is going to be a priority. It kind of has to be when you’re in the rotation. You need to have a game plan for the next outing and build off that one.

“It’s going to be more of a building effort, and I really do think I’m close.”

When Hicks makes his starting debut Thursday, he won’t be allotted the same number of pitches or innings a regular starter would see. The Cardinals are still exercising caution over Hicks and have elected to slowly build up his durability. Hicks is slated for roughly three innings or around 50 pitches and is on a throwing schedule similar to how pitchers are built up during spring training.

Part of establishing himself as a starting pitcher has meant re-establishing his arsenal. Hicks has modified his sinker to sit consistently in the mid-to-high 90s, but he’ll often pair it with a nasty slider, a pitch that has one of the highest vertical drops in baseball so far this season. His slider this season averages five more inches of vertical movement than similar pitch types (in this case, pitches that rank within 1-2 mph within .5 feet of extension and release), as shown per Baseball Savant:

Hicks can still hit the triple-digit heat. But now he’s teaching his body how to use it effectively and in a way that enables him to sustain such an effort for multiple innings.

“When I was throwing 104, that was max effort,” Hicks explained, before referring to an early spring outing where he topped out at 102 mph. “When I did hit 102 this year, that didn’t feel like max effort, but it did feel like I put a little extra on it. So I know that’s still there, and I wanted to show that I had it still.

“So for toning (the velocity) back, it’s going to be more about my natural delivery. If I’m a starter I’m not throwing all out all of the time. It’s more about getting into that natural arm slot and the natural feel. I feel like that’s best for me because then I can just go about it pitch by pitch.”

Now Hicks will finally have a chance to show the Cardinals just how high his ceiling is as a potential starter. Marmol has been clear about Hicks’ usage in the past. He will be built up as a starting pitcher — not as an opener, not as a piggyback option and not as a spot starter. St. Louis believes Hicks has the talent to fully cement himself as a full-time starter. Now it’s about pace and execution.

“I might have a few radar peaks just to know, ‘Oh, I let that one go, where am I at? What do I have in the tank? It’s the fifth, sixth inning, can I still get up to those velos?'” Hicks said. “But I really just want to throw strikes. Whatever I have to do to do that, I feel like I’m in a really good place right now.”

(Photo: Lawrence Iles / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)