Michael Brian Darrell-Hicks...Is a 2016 graduate of South Warren (Ky.) High School...Attended both Western Kentucky University (2017-21) and Jacksonville (Fla.) University (2022)...His mother, Rose (Hicks), played basketball at Marshall (W.Va.) University, while his father, Bart (Darrell) was the president at Kentucky Wesleyan College from 2014-19...Was signed by Angels scout Chris McAlpin.
2025
Pitched in six spring games as a non-roster invitee with Los Angeles (AL)...Began the season with Salt Lake (Angels’ Triple-A), where he allowed seven runs over 6.2 innings in his first three appearances from 3/29-4/8... Was selected by Los Angeles on 4/6 but did not appear in a game before being optioned back to Salt Lake on 4/7...Was recalled by the Angels on 4/11 and made his Major League debut that night at Houston, allowing four runs in one inning of relief...Earned his first Major League win with 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen on 4/20 vs. San Francisco...Struck out two batters in two scoreless innings of relief on 4/22 vs. Pittsburgh before being optioned back to Salt Lake on 4/23... Allowed one run over three appearances (4.0 IP) with the Bees from 4/26-5/2 before being recalled by Los Angeles on 5/3...Allowed three runs in one inning out of the bullpen on 5/4 vs. Detroit before being optioned back to Salt Lake on 5/6... Surrendered 14 runs over his final 11 outings (11.2 IP) with the Bees from 5/7-6/6 before being designated for assignment on 6/8...Was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh and optioned to Indianapolis on 6/13...Made two scoreless appearances (2.0 IP) with the Indians from 6/20-22 at Columbus...Was recalled by the Pirates on 6/24 and made his team debut that night at Milwaukee, striking out two batters over two scoreless innings in relief of starter Andrew Heaney...Was optioned back to Indianapolis, where he remained for the rest of the season, on 6/26...Went a combined 1-0 with a 7.45 ERA (9.2 IP/8 ER) in seven appearances split between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh...Was 2-0 with a 9.00 ERA (14.0 IP/15 R/14 ER) in his final 13 Triple-A appearances from 6/29-8/13...Pitched in his final game on 8/13 at Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre...Was placed on the seven-day injured list on 8/16 (retro to 8/14) and missed the remainder of the season... Went a combined 2-2 with an 8.45 ERA (38.1 IP/36 ER) over his 32 appearances split between Salt Lake and Indianapolis... Was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh on 11/6, but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indianapolis on 11/10.
2024
Began season with Double-A Rocket City and went 6-4 with a 1.73 ERA (41.2 IP - 8 ER) and 46 strikeouts in 30 games in relief...First full season in the relief role since professional debut in 2022...Promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake on Aug. 13 and posted a 4.35 ERA (20.2 IP - 10 ER) with 23 strikeouts in 10 games...Held opponents to one-or-fewer earned runs in 36 of 40 appearances...Did not give up a run in 27 outings...Pitched in multiple innings in relief in 17 games...Recorded at least 12 outs in relief twice (Sept. 8, Sept. 21)...Set a career high with eight saves in 2024...Finished 23 games...Did not surrender a home run all season.
2023
Began the season with Inland Empire (Angels’ Low-A), where he struck out five batters in three of his five relief outings in April...Earned his first professional save in his final relief appearance with the 66ers on 5/2 at Visalia, striking out six batters in 3.1 innings of work...Made six starts to conclude his time with Inland Empire from 5/7-6/18...Was named the California League’s Pitcher of the Week for the week of 5/22-28 after allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out six batters in six scoreless innings on 5/28 vs. Visalia...Recorded a 4.20 ERA (30.0 IP/14 ER) in six starts and a 4.26 ERA (12.2 IP/6 ER) in six relief outings with the 66ers...Was promoted to Tri-City (Angels’ High-A) on 6/19...Struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings as a starter in his Dust Devils debut on 6/23 at Spokane...Went 2-1 with a 0.77 ERA (23.1 IP/3 R/2 ER), 26 strikeouts, a .134 batting average against and a 0.86 WHIP in seven appearances (three starts) from 7/6-8/3...Struck out a career-high nine batters in 6.0 scoreless innings on 8/3 vs. Eugene...Was promoted to Rocket City on 9/1...Tied his career high with nine strikeouts while allowing just an unearned run across five innings in his team debut on 9/3 at Mississippi (he lost a 6-0 decision)...Went a combined 5-7 with one save, a 3.88 ERA (109.0 IP/47 ER) and 124 strikeouts in 28 outings (18 starts) split between Inland Empire, Tri-City and Rocket City... Ranked tied for first among Angels farmhands in strikeouts and sixth in innings (ranked second among all full-season pitchers w/a .240 batting average against and third in ERA).
2022
Began his professional career with Inland Empire, where he earned a win in his professional debut on 8/14 vs. Fresno after striking out three batters in two scoreless innings...Allowed zero runs in four of his seven outings (7.0 IP), but gave up 12 runs in the other three outings (2.1 IP).
