SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – James Hicks figured he was done with baseball. As a senior at Conway (Ark.) HS, he weighed about 150 pounds and his fastball sat around 82 mph. Colleges were understandably not knocking at his door, but he figured that if he didn’t give it a shot, he’d look back and know he missed the game.
Which is where Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri, enters the picture. Hicks got on campus and dove in headlong to the JUCO program’s development-minded mantra. (While there, he was teammates with Brewers All-Star rookie and fireballer extraordinaire Jacob Misiorowski.)
After setting the program’s complete game and strikeout-to-walk record, Hicks transferred to the University of South Carolina, which set the stage for him becoming a two-time Draft selection. The latter was by the Astros in the 13th round in 2023. He put pen to paper and got to work.
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Just over six years after he was ready to move on from the mound, Hicks finds himself in the Arizona Fall League, the premier circuit for prospect talent. The 24-year-old made his third appearance for the Scottsdale Scorpions on Friday during a 5-4 extra-inning win at Salt River Fields, spinning six strikeouts across four scoreless frames.
Through his first three outings, the Astros' No. 26 prospect has worked 11 innings without allowing a run while compiling 14 strikeouts. Dating back to 2016, just 13 Fall League hurlers have gone unscored upon in at least 11 frames – 11 of which were full-time relievers pitching in shorter stints.
In that same stretch, Hicks has walked just one batter. After delivering a miniscule 1.8 BB/9 rate during his time with the Gamecocks, he led Houston’s system in K/BB ratio in 2024 (3.97) and finished in the top 10 during his abbreviated campaign this year.
“Throughout my career – going back to me in high school throwing 82 – I couldn't afford to walk anybody,” said Hicks, “so I had to learn to be in the zone and compete with everything.”
Here’s a look at how he’s deployed his five-pitch mix throughout his AFL outings:
Oct. 10:
Sweeper - 29.5%
Changeup - 22.7%
Sinker - 22.7%
Four-seam - 13.6%
Slider - 11.4%
Oct. 18:
Sweeper - 36%
Four-seam - 22%
Changeup - 16%
Sinker - 14%
Slider - 12%
Oct. 24:
Sinker - 28.9%
Sweeper - 26.7%
Four-seam - 22.2%
Slider - 13.3%
Changeup - 8.9%
“During the season, I usually get a scouting report and the night before I can go through and have a good game plan,” said Hicks. “Out here, it's kind of just going back to when I was younger and just showing up and playing. So now it's been more about reading swings, less about the game planning part, which I think I like a lot more.”
Hicks’ Fall League success is a continuation of a strong closing stretch to the year with Double-A Corpus Christi. He spun six innings of one-hit, one-run ball with a career-high 12 strikeouts on Sept. 3, which earned him Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors.
But his 2025 season had its obstacles as well. Exactly six months to the day of his third AFL start, Hicks took a line drive off his right forearm during an outing for the Hooks. He bounded off the mound and recovered in time to throw out the runner. But then it started to swell. He’d broken his right forearm.
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“It was definitely a tough time just being down in Florida for three months and there were a lot of lows during that time,” said Hicks. “But it just made it so much sweeter once I got back healthy. And now I get to be out here, which is great.
“So looking back on it, it turned out to be a good thing.”
Another unintended positive of Hicks’ presence in the desert is getting to work with catcher Walker Janek (HOU No. 4). The two have yet to officially serve as batterymates in the Astros’ system but they share similar backgrounds and interests, becoming fast friends during their time at the club’s complex in West Palm Beach, Florida.
That’s the beauty of the Fall League – a season that didn’t go the way Hicks hoped in the stat column (5.59 ERA in 11 outings) can be put on the back burner, traded in for a closing stretch that is a closer approximation of the pitcher he hopes to be.
“It's been a good year,” said Hicks. “Not what I had on the Bingo card, but I'm enjoying it.”