Red Sox’ Jordan Hicks has struggled since trade; ‘I need to take some ownership’

Red Sox' Jordan Hicks pitches against the San Diego Padres on Aug. 9. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)Getty Images

Right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks has struggled since the Red Sox acquired him from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade on June 15.

But he seems to recognize what’s going wrong and has a plan to fix it.

“I think I’m trending in the right direction,” he said Tuesday.

The 28-year-old initially started his Red Sox tenure on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his right big toe. Since Boston activated him June 30, Hicks has given up 12 runs, nine earned runs, 14 hits, two homers and eight walks in 13 innings.

He allowed a two-run homer Monday to Ramón Urías on a 1-0 sweeper.

“The fastball’s in a really good spot,” he said. “Probably should utilize it more.”

He throws both a sinker and four-seam fastball a combined 63.7% of the time.

“I already use it a ton, so it’s more about knowing when to use the fastball,” Hicks said. “Like I just struck out (Mauricio) Dubón on a heater the other day. Why am I throwing the slider or the sweeper? And that’s on me.”

He punched out Dubón on a 99.3 mph sinker, a pitch he has seen hitters late on.

“I need to take some ownership, throw the pitch I know is right and have that conviction,” he said. “So it all comes down to me taking some ownership, commanding the game a little bit more. Knowing what I know is best in that situation and trusting myself.”

Taking ownership means shaking off his catcher whenever he thinks another pitch would play better in a certain spot.

“I feel like if I’m gonna be giving up these kind of runs out of the bullpen, I need to really be throwing the pitch I want to throw,” Hicks said. “And I think it’s just something I had to come to realize. And I think that’s probably the right mindset moving forward. You’ve got to throw what feels good in the situation. If you have any second thoughts, you’re not going to throw your best pitch.”

He said most of the hits against the fastball have been on the ground, through the shift and hit softly. His 57.8 ground ball percentage is in the 96th percentile among major league pitchers.

“I really believe in my fastball, both of them,” he said.

He also identified his sweeper as an issue. He said his slider and sweeper are blending together.

He is considering paring down his pitch mix from five pitches to four pitches, perhaps eliminating the sweeper. He wants to continue to throw his slider and split-finger in addition to his sinker and four-seamer.

“I like the newer slider because it’s more firm. It kind of looks like a heater longer,” he said. “The sweeper just has a lot of time for them to see it and kind of pop. And you see he kind of thinks it’s coming at him, but then he readjusts. ... So the harder one definitely plays more. It looks like the heater longer. So if you’re thinking about tunneling, it’s going to look like the heater longer.”

He said he also can’t walk batters like he did Monday when he gave up a six-pitch free pass to Christian Walker before Urías’ two-run blast.

“It’s really more about location, though,” he said. “Both home runs I gave up were middle.”