Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks, he of the 101 to 103 mph fastball, was coming back from Tommy John surgery last year when he decided to opt out of the 2020 partial season. Understandable. It makes his eventual debut this year the first time he’s pitched in the big leagues in a long time.
Today, he was making his first appearance in a “real” game of any kind in two years, pitching to the Mets in Spring Training. The appearance lasted just one batter, but not for a lack of throwing triple-digit strikes. It just turned out that Mets infielder Luis Guillorme did not want the at bat to end. Ever.
This is incredible. I just watched Mets infielder Luis Guillorme work a 22(!) pitch walk against Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks, the first batter he’d faced on the day.
And now his day is over. One batter. 22-pitch walk. Appearance over.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 14, 2021
Luis Guillorme just drew a 22-pitch walk. The boys are FIRED UP 🤣 🤣 🤣 pic.twitter.com/y5eos7uDsp
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 14, 2021
The full at-bat between Jordan Hicks and Luis Guillorme.
One matchup.
22 pitches.
Over 15 minutes.
6 pitches over 100 mph.
One walk. pic.twitter.com/EuhzRlOnOI
— Zachary Silver (@zachsilver) March 14, 2021
I started seeing tweets about the at bat around the 13-pitch mark, and so I decided to flip on my MLB.tv right quick to see how it played out. Honestly, I mostly just wanted to see how Hicks looked, given his importance to the Cardinals and his return. It was nuts. Foul after foul after foul after foul, with Guillorme’s teammates going nuts on every one. Eventually, Hicks missed just inside with a fastball to make it 3-2, and then another foul later, he tried a curveball down, and Guillorme laid off for the walk.
No one wanted to give up in that situation, especially after it got into double-digit pitches. So Hicks kept grinding and Guillorme kept fouling balls off. Just crazy stuff. And, yes, if it’d been the regular season, it would’ve been a record-setting plate appearance.
Upon the walk, Cardinals manager Mike Schildt came out to end Hicks’ day, because obviously, but technically he wasn’t allowed – Hicks hadn’t faced at least three batters. Ope!
Luis Guillorme just worked a 22-pitch walk. The crowd goes wild!
The Cardinals tried to take Jordan Hicks out despite the 3-batter minimum. The umpires at first said no, but the Cardinals brought the trainer out so they could relieve him.
It’s a Spring Training game
— ByMattMartell (@ByMattMartell) March 14, 2021
Craziness:
Jordan Hicks threw more 99+ MPH pitches in that at-bat vs. Luis Guillorme (9) than 10 teams did in the 2020 regular season (SEA, BAL, CHC, LAA, WSH, HOU, ATL, ARI, CLE, OAK)
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) March 14, 2021
