St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks has advanced to throwing bullpen sessions in recent weeks and remains on pace to return from Tommy John surgery around what would have been the All-Star break, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The 23-year-old righty has been out since June 2019 after undergoing the elbow procedure. The typical recovery period is 12-to-15 months.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Hicks' throwing program now includes 30-pitch bullpen sessions of "moderate intensity."
Hicks, who has Type 1 diabetes, took extra precautions during spring training because of COVID-19, so his timeline was pushed back about a month, Goold adds.
The reliever owns a career 3.47 ERA with 20 saves across two seasons with St. Louis.
