LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. • What started in January on a mound at Dallas Baptist University has continued this spring and been part of the reason for Jordan Hicks’ few and targeted appearances in Grapefruit League play.
Twice in the offseason pitching coach Mike Maddux hosted Hicks for private bullpen sessions at the Dallas-area school to help simplify the righthander’s mechanics. Hicks moved his hands down toward his waist, shortened the distance his hand travels as it swings down and started scrubbing out any of the hints he was giving hitters. Already the hardest-throwing pitcher in baseball, Hicks, 22, worked with Maddux to assure streamlined mechanics didn’t lessen his velocity.