He’s a flamethrower

St. Louis Cardinals rookie reliever Jordan Hicks added 2 mph Sunday to what was already a 103-mph sinker. His manager and teammates — along with the rest of the baseball world — were asking how was that possible after the 21-year-old twice eclipsed 105 mph with his fastball in Sunday’s 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hicks pointed to the batter’s box for the answer.

“Odubel just takes forever to get in the box,” Hicks said, referencing Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera. “It amps me up a little bit. So I bring it against him.”

The five pitches Hicks fired to Herrera in a ninth inning atbat Sunday were the five fastest pitches of the 2018 season thrown by any pitcher, per Statcast. In doing so, Hicks eclipsed Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman as the game’s hardest thrower this season. He and Chapman are the only pitchers to hit 105 mph since pitch tracking began in 2008.

The scoreboard readings had Hicks’ teammates clamoring in the dugout.

“You see 105 up there. That doesn’t happen. I don’t know what the exact mph was, but we’re all wondering if it was 105 point, or where on 105 it was,” said starter Jack Flaherty. “I wish I could throw 105.”

Hicks broke training camp with a reputation of hitting 102 with his sinker, which runs down and arm-side and, thanks to his age and power arm, can disobey him at times. Saturday he touched 103 mph — also against Herrera.

Hicks has thrown his seven hardest pitches of the season against Herrera.

“It was my first time facing a guy like that,” Herrera said. “I had never faced someone throwing 104, 105 miles an hour. But I felt good because I was able to see pitches.”