JUST IN: Yankees general manager Brian Cashman want to make major improvement to bullpen with velocity free agent signing

If New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is looking for velocity, he should look no further than free agent Jordan Hicks, who previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays. Hicks is a 27-year-old free agent, a young age for a player with significant upside.

Hicks is expected to be one of the more expensive bullpen arms on the market, but his makeup is very appealing, especially with a coach like Matt Blake, who can do wonders with his sequence.

According to The Athletic, the Yankees, along with several other teams, are interested in Hicks. Of course, the Yankees will have to allocate financial resources more efficiently after acquiring Juan Soto and his estimated $30 million in arbitration. They desperately need another starting pitcher, which could be Yoshinobu Yamamoto, or a less expensive option where they can spend more money elsewhere, such as Hicks in the bullpen.

Why the Yankees Have Their Eyes on Jordan Hicks

Hicks pitched 65.2 innings last season with a 3.29 ERA, 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, a 72.1% left-on-base rate, and a 58.3% ground ball rate. He’s had a few inconsistent seasons, but his fastball regularly touches 100 mph. He throws a sinker, a sweeper, a four-seam fastball, and a change-up. His sinker had a.259 batting average and his sweeper had a.136 batting average last season.

Going from a 100 mph sinker to an 87 mph sweeper is certainly deceptive. His sweeper generates league-average movement, but Blake could improve his fundamentals and get more break on his pitches. A sinker with 6% more horizontal movement than the average pitcher is extremely difficult to hit at that velocity. He can be erratic with his accuracy, but that is to be expected at that speed. He has a ground ball percentage in the 96th percentile and a fastball velocity in the 100th percentile.

Surprisingly, his strikeout rate is only in the 66th percentile, and he walks far too many batters. Some hyper-specific coaching and fundamental tweaks could help his arm even more, but he will be an expensive acquisition. Last offseason, the Yankees signed Tommy Kahnle to a two-year, $11.5 million contract. He had a lot of success finding low-cost arms and developing them into productive players. They might prefer to spend more on a starting pitcher and save money in the bullpen.