Red Sox righty Jordan Hicks (right toe inflammation) topped out at 100.1 mph while pitching a scoreless fifth inning during his second rehab outing with Triple-A Worcester on Friday.
Hicks averaged 99.3 mph with his eight sinkers. Worcester lost 4-2 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Red Sox acquired the hard-throwing 28-year-old from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade June 15.
Hicks allowed a hit and walk while striking out two. Both strikeouts were swinging: one on a four-seam fastball and the other on a splitter.
He topped out at 99.7 mph with his five four-seam fastballs and averaged 98.3 mph with it.
He added six splitters and four sweepers.
He got five swings-and-misses: two with his sweeper and one each with his sinker, four-seam fastball and splitter.
The Red Sox could activate Hicks when the Reds visit Boston Monday-Wednesday.
“We don’t want to rush him,” manager Alex Cora said before Friday’s game. “This is more than pitching. Moving around … Hopefully, we can pass that last hurdle and he’ll be with us sooner rather than later.”
Other Red Sox minor league notes from Friday:
~ Jhostynxon Garcia went 2-for-4 with a 404-foot two-run home run to left-center field in Worcester’s 4-2 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Athletic’s Keith Law recently ranked Garcia No. 46 on his most recent Top 50 MLB prospect rankings.
The 22-year-old outfielder is batting .306 with a .380 on-base percentage, .603 slugging percentage, .983 OPS, nine homers, five doubles, two triples, 23 RBIs, 22 runs, 15 walks and 35 strikeouts in 31 games (137 plate appearances) since his promotion to Worcester on May 18.
~ Kristian Campbell went 1-for-2 with two walks and one run in Worcester’s loss. He made an error at second base.
~ Wyatt Mills pitched 2 scoreless innings for Worcester, working around two hits and three walks. He struck out three. He has had some issues with walks (23 in 40 ⅓ innings) but opponents are batting just .208 against him. The Red Sox were expecting Mills to be a part of their bullpen after they acquired him from the Royals in December 2022. But he got hurt during spring training 2023 and underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2023.
~ Alex Hoppe, a 26-year-old righty who Boston drafted in the sixth round in 2022, struck out the side in his one inning of relief for the WooSox. He has allowed just one run in 10 ⅔ innings in June.
~ Mikey Romero went 2-for-4 with two doubles and one strikeout in Double-A Portland’s 3-1 loss to Binghamton. The 21-year-old, who Boston selected in the first round in 2022, has had two-hit games in three of his six games back from the IL.
The shortstop/second baseman is batting .263 with a .337 on-base percentage, .488 slugging percentage, .825 OPS, seven homers, 11 doubles, two triples, 26 RBIs, 30 runs, 18 walks and 46 strikeouts in 42 games (182 plate appearances) for Portland.
~ The FCL Red Sox, Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville were postponed due to rain.
