JUPITER, Fla. -- Early last month, as he tinkered with grips on a pitch he hopes to reintroduce this season, Jordan Hicks reached out to pitching coach Mike Maddux for an assist.

The collaboration started with a discussion of how the changeup could complement his other pitches and continued with Maddux driving out to watch Hicks throw the pitch during offseason bullpen sessions. They continued to workshop until Maddux suggested Hicks move his thumb up just a bit.

“Immediate difference,” Hicks exclaimed.

Hicks is now showing the pitch off in side sessions this spring, along with a rediscovered four-seam fastball that can create a different eye level from the power sinker that lit up radar guns his rookie season. Whereas relievers often subtract pitches from their repertoires in order to simplify, Hicks, a starter in the Minors, wants to add them back in to complicate things for his opponent.

“I’m learning how to pitch,” he said.

The on-the-job training Hicks received last year upon making the leap from Class A starter to Major League reliever left Hicks with plenty to consider over the offseason. He sees the 13.3-percent walk rate as something that needs to improve and the 20.6-percent strikeout rate as primed to go up with a more diverse repertoire.

He survived mostly with velocity early, averaging 100.4 mph on his sinker, and gained confidence in his slider as his season went on. Mixing speeds and looks was the impetus behind experimenting with a second fastball and a changeup this winter.

“It’s huge for everybody,” Maddux said. “If you just have one speed, it better be really, really hard or a knuckleball. The more pitches you have, the more looks we can get. We’re never out of the count. We’re not limiting ourselves.”

Nor is Hicks limiting the potential. Though he hit as high as 105 mph on the radar gun and threw 462 more 100-plus-mph pitches than anyone else last season, Hicks believes there’s not only an uptick coming in the velocity of his sinker but also the ability to match it with his four-seamer.

Whatever the number, developing Hicks as a late-inning arm is clearly the aim. The Cardinals intend to bring Hicks along slowly this spring after using him in 73 games his rookie season. It’s a precautionary approach, not a reactionary one, designed to have Hicks ready to open as a late-inning option out of the ‘pen.

That will include opportunities to pitch in save situations since the team will proceed without a designated closer. Hicks, 22, describes pitching the ninth inning as his “ultimate goal.”

The fact that the Cardinals consider Hicks a critical cog in the back end of their ‘pen speaks to how quickly his profile has changed in the last 12 months. A non-roster invitee to camp a year ago, Hicks was the first player cut from big-league camp, in part due to tardiness issues.

The organization changed course on the eve of Opening Day and added Hicks to the Major League roster. He went on to lead the team in appearances while allowing only three barreled balls to opponents all year.

“You’re talking about the jump that he made, the transition that he made was really smooth,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Extraordinary, really.”

If he felt himself trying to catch up then, Hicks is positioned to take charge now.

“I like to call myself a pitcher, but at the same time, I don’t have it mastered,” Hicks said. “I think I still have a lot of room to grow, which is exciting.”