My name is Caleb Van Grack.  I am 11-years-old, I belong to Temple Shalom in Maryland and I have been a Cardinals fan since I was 3, but I’ve never lived in St. Louis. My dad, Adam Van Grack, went to school in St. Louis and passed on his love for Cardinals baseball to me. 

Jordan Hicks threw the fastest pitch in the history of Major League Baseball. This amazing record-breaking pitch was over 105 mph. The average fastball pitch by an MLB pitcher that year was 92.3 mph.

Jordan Hicks’ pitches regularly are clocked at over 100 mph. Now that he has recovered from his surgery, he is in my opinion the best reliever on the Cardinals.

Here are 3 reasons why Jordan Hicks is the best reliever on the Cardinals.

1. In 2018, the amount of batters who barreled Jordan Hicks pitches were only 0.9%. This barrel rate is very helpful to Jordan Hicks because very few batters will get any wood on his pitches. 

2. In 2019, Jordan Hicks had the highest average fastball speed of 100.5 mph. This super speed average is beneficial to Jordan Hicks because the batter will not have time to hit the ball. 

3. Jordan Hicks’ slider and sinker pitches have over 10 inches of movement.  This amazing movement helps Jordan Hicks because it will confuse the batter because the batter will not know where the ball will end up.