MESA, Ariz. — Chicago Cubs left-hander Jordan Wicks adopted a different approach in the offseason compared with the previous winter.
Rather than emphasizing building strength and then subsequently dealing with injuries last year, Wicks focused on a more balanced approach leading into camp. Pilates, more conditioning and cleaner eating following a disappointing 2024 season has the 25-year-old left-hander feeling much better physically as he looks to win a job in the Cubs rotation.
“I definitely think I have something to prove this spring and this year as a whole,” Wicks said Friday. “I felt like last year wasn’t anything close to the production I put in for my whole career before that and I feel like that was the first year people really saw me and I feel like they didn’t see who I am. For me, it’s crucial to get back to who I am this year.”
Wicks made his first Cactus League start Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, tossing two shutout innings while not issuing a walk, striking out two and allowing three hits in a 7-3 win. He worked around a bases-loaded jam in the second, striking out Ryan Ward to end the inning.
Wicks is in the mix for the fifth-starter job along with right-handers Colin Rea and Ben Brown. Right-hander Javier Assad played catch this week but remains behind as he comes back from a left oblique injury.
“It really kind of refocuses you on everything, and it challenges you as you go into the offseason, you’ve got to have a good day, every single day and I think Jordan’s really accomplished that,” manager Craig Counsell said of Wicks’ 2024 season. “He had a great offseason from a training perspective and he’s coming to camp running, really ready to go and with something to prove. That’s a good space for him to be in.”
If Wicks makes the team out of camp, it won’t be as a reliever. Counsell made clear Friday that the Cubs are viewing him only as a starter at this point in the year. He doesn’t envision that changing until the regular season begins to shorten and if the Cubs still have good starting pitching depth, then other decisions could be made. But the Cubs are taking a long-lens perspective on Wicks, valuing his ability to pitch a lot of innings and start games.
Although Wicks missed significant time last year due to two stints on the injured list (left forearm strain and rib issue), Counsell noted that regardless of those injuries, the lefty “frankly didn’t pitch great” in the 11 games (10 starts) he appeared in for the Cubs.
When evaluating Wicks’ struggles, pinpointing the problems is a little difficult, Counsell explained, because his pitches’ shapes and velocities weren’t much different from his debut season in 2023, when Wicks posted a 4.41 ERA in seven starts. Counsell believes Wicks’ changeup, his best pitch, wasn’t an equalizer for him at times like he needed last season.
“It’s the pitch that makes him responsible for the fastball and the guys with good changeups, hitters have to be in between so both pitches work because of that, and that’s what Jordan has to do,” Counsell said. “Strike throwing is always a key for him, just controlling counts — it’s nothing from a new-pitch perspective or a pitch-shape perspective or a velocity perspective.”
Wicks didn’t fully agree with that assessment of his changeup, believing the pitch felt the same as 2023. However, he felt hitters too often were sitting on his changeup when he got to two strikes, putting them in hunting mode.
As much as his four-seam fastball and changeup are his go-to combination, accounting for 70.6% of his pitches thrown compared with 58.2% in 2023, Wicks wants to develop his other pitches — sinker, slider, curveball and cutter — to be more of a threat and keep hitters guessing.
After getting too caught up last year trying to generate swing and misses and being a strikeout pitcher, Wicks is focused on returning to the roots of his success on the mound. Reducing walks and not letting those convert into runs are a key piece to that.
“It was a little bit too much of getting outside of who I am as a pitcher,” Wicks said. “A big emphasis for me this year is just fill it up, put it in play. There’s no excuse for me with the defense that we have behind us to not let those guys work. My mentality has really changed.”
