Closer to the cardinals Jordan Hicks, he from the 101 to 103 mph fastball, was returning from Tommy John’s surgery last year when he decided to leave the 2020 partial season. Understandable. His debut this year is the first time in a long time that he has played in the major leagues.
Today, he was making his first appearance in a “real” game of any kind in two years, playing for Mets in spring training. The appearance lasted only one hitter, but not for lack of three-digit strikes. It turns out that Mets midfielder Luis Guillorme did not want the beat to end. Ever.
This is incredible. I just watched the Mets field, Luis Guillorme, on a 22 (!) Pitch against the Cardinals closer to Jordan Hicks, the first batsman he faced that day.
And now your day is over. A dough. Walk for 22 pitches. The appearance is over.
– Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 14, 2021
Luis Guillorme just made a walk of 22 shots. The boys are FIRED pic.twitter.com/y5eos7uDsp
– SNY (@SNYtv) March 14, 2021
The total fight between Jordan Hicks and Luis Guillorme.
A confrontation.
22 pitches.
More than 15 minutes.
6 pitches above 100 mph.
A walk. pic.twitter.com/EuhzRlOnOI
– Zachary Silver (@zachsilver) March 14, 2021
I started seeing tweets about the pitch around the 13-pitch mark, so I decided to turn on my MLB.tv quickly to see how it worked. Honestly, I just wanted to see what Hicks looked like, given his importance to the Cardinals and his return. It was crazy. Foul after foul after foul after foul, with Guillorme’s teammates going crazy with everyone. Eventually, Hicks missed from the inside with a quick ball to make it 3-2 and then another foul later, he tried a curved down ball, and Guillorme stopped for the walk.
Nobody wanted to give up in that situation, especially after she went into double-digit pitches. So Hicks kept grinding and Guillorme kept the balls dirty. Just crazy things. And yes, if it had been the regular season, it would have been a record appearance.
During the walk, Cardinals coach Mike Schildt came out to end Hicks’ day, because obviously, but technically he was not allowed – Hicks had not faced at least three hitters. The feet!
Luis Guillorme just made a walk of 22 shots. The crowd goes crazy!
The Cardinals tried to remove Jordan Hicks despite a minimum of 3 strokes. The referees at first said no, but the Cardinals brought in the coach so they could replace him.
It’s a Spring Training game
– ByMattMartell (@ByMattMartell) March 14, 2021
Craziness:
Jordan Hicks made more 99+ MPH pitches on that at-bat against Luis Guillorme (9) than 10 teams in the regular 2020 season (SEA, BAL, CHC, LAA, WSH, HOU, ATL, ARI, CLE, OAK)
– Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) March 14, 2021