Watch: San Francisco Giants Pitcher, Manager Have Weird Exchange with Umpire

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jordan Hicks did not have the best of days when he faced the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The Giants lost the game, 6-4. Hicks managed to work through seven innings and only gave up six hits. But he allowed five earned runs and four walks. He also struck out five. When he left the game after the bottom of the seventh, his day was over and he was on the hook for the loss, as he dropped to 1-2.

But that wasn’t all. As he walked to the dugout it appeared as if he and home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi had a spirited conversation, as captured by NBC Sports Bay Area’s broadcast team.

Jordan Hicks was visibly upset after he walked off the field in the seventh 😬 pic.twitter.com/0MVTkx5FnR
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 17, 2025

So, what happened? At the time, no one covering the Giants was really sure including NBCBA reporter Alex Pavlovic.

Bizarre start for Jordan Hicks: He gave up five runs in the first inning ... but ended up getting through seven, averaged 99 mph with his sinker and topped out at 101.7. He also had words with the Phillies dugout and home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi yelled at him after the seventh.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) April 17, 2025

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Shayna Rubin indicated that Hicks and other people on the field were exchanging words during the game.

Jordan Hicks and HP umpire Phil Cuzzi have been beefin' all afternoon. Cuzzi ran up to him with some feisty words after he finished the seventh inning.
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) April 17, 2025

The words between Cuzzi and Giants manager Bob Melvin were interesting, too. It seemed Melvin was trying to get an explanation for something.

Melvin did get his explanation, but it turns out the exchange, in part, had nothing to do with Hicks. It had to do with outfielder Jung Hoo Lee.

Bob Melvin said Phil Cuzzi thought that Jung Hoo Lee did a head tap/challenge and took exception to it.

Hicks said Cuzzi was trying to diffuse chirps between Hicks and the Phillies dugout. Lot of weirdness.
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) April 17, 2025

The head tap is what a player uses to indicate a review. Players used the head tap during spring training to indicate a request for a review on balls and strikes when teams were experimenting the Automatic Ball Strike (ABS) system. But Major League players don’t typically use that move.

Managers can initiate a review, and most do so by cupping their hands around their ears to indicate to the umpire they want the play reviewed.

Hicks is in his second season as a full-time starter and along with his 1-2 record he now has a 6.04 ERA. San Francisco has a long-term deal invested in Hicks, who was at one time a high-leverage reliever, so the Giants are unlikely to give up on him easily.

But the quality of his outings has gone down significantly since his debut against Houston, when he threw six innings of one-hit, shut out baseball. Since then, he’s given up at least six hits and three earned runs in each game, including a season-high seven in a start last week.

The Giants are heading back to the west coast but not home. They’ll start a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday.

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