Jordan Hicks had hoped to be in the competition to be the Cardinals’ closer by now after missing some 22 months following Tommy John elbow surgery in June, 2019. Instead, he is back on the injured list, on which he probably will reside for the next month or more.
As expected, the Cardinals announced Tuesday they had placed the righthander, who was the closer when he was hurt, on the 10-day IL with right elbow inflammation, retroactive to Sunday. Ryan Helsley who got the final out of the seventh inning Monday in a 6-5 win over New York, has impressed manager Mike Shildt with his four-pitch assortment and will shoulder some of the late-inning load that Hicks was carrying, mostly in the sixth or seventh, although Shlldt said that Helsley and Hicks often had been interchangeable in that role.