Hicks does his best '14 Lincecum impression

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN FRANCISCO -- It’s been a season of transitions for Jordan Hicks.

After spending the first half of the year adjusting to life as a full-time starter, Hicks has shifted to a more familiar role in recent weeks, returning to the bullpen as a way to manage his workload down the stretch. He drew his highest-leverage relief assignment yet on Monday, when he was brought in to close in place of Ryan Walker, who was unavailable after making a two-inning appearance against the A’s on Sunday.

Hicks worked around a pair of singles to post a scoreless ninth and seal a 5-3 win over the White Sox, becoming the first Giants pitcher to record both 20 starts and one save in a single season since Tim Lincecum in 2014.

“You don’t see it very often,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I think he’s handling it well. Obviously, we’re pretty communicative with him on how he’s feeling on a particular day, especially since coming back into the bullpen. He’s kind of ramping down and finally kind of got into that spot there. He ended up closing the game. We get a win. He’s done it before. It’s just been a really kind of interesting experience, but I think he’s been great about it. He’s been open to just about anything.”

Hicks didn’t have his best velocity as his innings began to pile up as a starter -- his 107 2/3 innings are already 30 more than his previous career high, which he set as a 21-year-old rookie reliever for the Cardinals in 2018 -- but his fastball has begun to tick back up now that he’s being used in shorter bursts out of the bullpen. His first pitch on Monday registered at 93.5 mph, but he had the reach-back velocity when he needed it and managed to hit 98.5 mph by the end of the inning.

“I feel like most of my outings have been creeping up like almost every pitch,” Hicks said. “I wish I could just come out there and be 97 [mph] from the jump. But it’s hard right now. A lot of innings. I think overall that’s what it was. I remember the first three, four or five starts, 97 was pretty easy. If I wanted it, watching video, it didn’t look like I was trying really hard to go get it. Now I feel like I have to move faster, which is fine. It’s just different mechanically.”

Hicks posted a 6.42 ERA over his final nine starts for the Giants, but he’s looked refreshed while working out of the bullpen, allowing only two runs over nine innings (2.00 ERA) in his first seven relief appearances of the season. The Giants haven’t used Hicks on back-to-back days yet, but the 27-year-old right-hander believes he’ll be ready to do so if needed.

“I think there’s better opportunities for it maybe this week or going into Seattle,” Hicks said. “We’ll see how it feels. We talked about it. There was a day I told them I could go do it if the situation did line up. I do see it in the future, though.”

With Walker holding down the ninth and Camilo Doval getting back on track at Triple-A Sacramento, Hicks isn’t expected to get many more save opportunities this year, but his closing experience should still make him a valuable piece for San Francisco’s bullpen over the final five weeks of the regular season.

“We’re pretty happy with what Walk’s doing right now, but it’s a nice resource to have,” Melvin said. “And then once Camilo is back, we’ll see where that goes, because he’s been pitching really well, too. It’s a good problem to have.”