Blue Jays reportedly acquire Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks

Almost exactly 24 hours after putting All-Star closer Jordan Romano on the IL with a back injury, the Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly landed some much-needed bullpen help in the form of St. Louis Cardinals right Jordan Hicks:

According to Robert Murray, Minor League pitchers Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein are headed to St. Louis. Robberse, Toronto’s No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is the headliner there.

Jordan Hicks trade takeaways

Hicks was among the best remaining relief arms on the market, having held down the closer’s role for the Cardinals since Ryan Helsley went down with an elbow injury back in June. The hard-throwing 26-year-old has a 3.67 ERA on the year, with eight saves in 11 opportunities. His tendency to get a bit wild has given St. Louis fans some grey hairs this year — he carries a bloated 1.512 WHIP, in large part thanks to 24 walks in 41.2 innings of work — but with a triple-digits fastball and wipeout slider, he has the sort of electric stuff that can get him out of any jam. (To wit: He’s also struck out 59 over those 41.2 frames.)

More importantly for Toronto, Hicks brings ninth-inning experience to a team suddenly lacking in it with Romano on the shelf. The team has not yet issued a firm timetable for the All-Star closer’s return, and the Jays rank in the top five in the Majors in bullpen ERA, none of the internal options to replace him — Erik Swanson, Tim Mayza, Yimi Garcia — have ever been a full-time closer before. (And besides, you can never have too many relievers in a pennant race.)

Hicks first broke in with the Cardinals back in 2018, making the Opening Day roster despite having not previously pitched above High-A. His ridiculous stuff was immediately apparent — it took him less than two months to tie Aroldis Chapman’s record for the fastest pitch of the Statcast era at 105.1 mph — and it seemed like he was destined to be St. Louis’ closer of the future. But arm injuries — first Tommy John surgery, then elbow inflammation — would limit him to just 38.2 innings over the next three years, and he struggled upon returning in 2022 as the team tried to convert him back into a starter. He moved back to the bullpen for good this season, staying healthy and effective despite occasional command struggles. The righty is set to hit free agency this winter, and after extension talks between player and team broke down earlier this month, it seemed like the writing was on the wall.

Toronto entered play on Sunday in possession of the third and final AL Wild Card Spot by 2.5 games over the division rival Boston Red Sox, and with the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners close behind, every marginal upgrade is huge. For St. Louis, meanwhile, this is likely just the first domino to fall as GM John Mozeliak retools after a profoundly disappointing start to the 2023 season. After entering the season with legitimate World Series hopes, the Cardinals now find themselves in last place in the NL Central at 46-60, and pending free agents like Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty could follow Hicks out the door.

Sem Robberse, Adam Kloffenstein scouting reports

Considering that Hicks has struggled with both his command and his health and is set to hit free agency after this season, Robberse represents a pretty solid return for St. Louis. Signed out of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse — the top baseball league in the Netherlands and a truly incredible phrase — as an international free agent back in 2019, the righty doesn’t have the most electric stuff but throws tons of strikes and has a good chance to become a back-end starter in the Majors.

Robberse largely sits in the low 90s with his fastball, using it to set up a curveball and slider that both project to be at least average. None of his offerings miss a ton of bats, but he induces plenty of ground balls and has managed to keep Minor League hitters off-balance well enough so far. The 21-year-old put himself on prospect radars last season, posting a 3.23 ERA in 111.1 innings across High-A and Double-A. Toronto sent him back to Double-A in 2023, where he currently owns a 4.06 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 88.2 innings across 18 starts. It’s not the flashiest profile, but it’s one the Cardinals have had success with before — in many ways he’s a lot like a young Miles Mikolas — and he should be ready to help patch holes in St. Louis’ rotation as soon as next year.

Robberse’s rotation-mate at Double-A New Hampshire this year, Kloffenstein has been on quite the journey since Toronto popped him in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft. The righty is still just 22, though, and he’s in the midst of a solid season, with a 3.24 ERA and 105 Ks in 89 innings across 17 starts. Scouts aren’t sure if that bat-missing ability will translate to the Majors — he largely works off a sinker and cutter to get ground-ball outs — but there’s more to work with here than his lack of prospect pedigree would suggest. Don’t be surprised if he’s competing for the Cards’ fifth-starter job next spring.