After a taste of the majors last season, Jordan Wicks could help stabilize the Cubs’ rotation. | AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Carolyn Kaster/AP Photos
MESA, Ariz. — Cubs Opening Day starter Justin Steele posed a question: “How many pitchers did the team use last season?”
Seven pitchers logged at least 10 starts for the Cubs during the 2023 season, and 13 logged at least 30 innings.
The 2019 Seattle Mariners hold the record for most pitchers used in a season, with 42.
The Cubs know the MLB season is one of attrition, particularly for starting pitchers who are throwing harder and fewer innings. In 2023, starters averaged 5.1 innings per start throughout the league.
“They’re [Cubs] going to need all of us at some point,” pitcher Drew Smyly said. “Injuries happen, different things happen over the course of the season.”
The Cubs are already dealing with a hole in their rotation as starting pitcher Jameson Taillon is unlikely to start the season with low back tightness. A competition was already going on for the fifth rotation spot after Steele, Taillon, Shota Imanaga and Kyle Hendricks. The club will need innings.
But the Cubs now have the depth to handle injuries to their pitching staff, from the versatile Smyly to young pitchers like Jordan Wicks and Hayden Wesneski.
“For me, it’s a step in the process,” Wicks told the Sun-Times of if he thinks about making the 26-man roster. “It’s not the end of the road or the end goal. My goal is to help this team win as many games as I can, and if they think that my being on the Opening Day roster will help them win more games, it’d be awesome.”
Wicks’ locker is two down from Hendricks’. Hendricks said he has admired Wicks’ work to improve his craft.
“It starts with his mindset and work ethic, he’s one of the hardest workers we have,” Hendricks told the Sun-Times. “I’m trying to emulate the aggressiveness and confidence in attacking hitters.”
Hendricks said Wicks’ changeup — arguably his best pitch — is already one of the best in the game.
Wicks has the mindset and meticulous approach to improve his craft. He credits his cup of coffee in the big leagues last season—throwing 34.2 innings with 24 strikeouts and a 4.41 ERA—with exposing him to what it takes to succeed at the big-league level.
“Not being so one-dimensional as a pitcher,” Wicks said, describing what he’d learned from last season. “You have to have other options to keep them off balance. For me, a big thing going into the offseason was developing those other weapons to where we can counter.”
The left-hander has a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 innings this spring. His work has allowed his name to be mentioned in competition for the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Manager Craig Counsell lauded Wicks’ professionalism and competitiveness.
Independent of the spot in the rotation, Wicks said he’s enjoyed getting to see how Taillon and Hendricks operate, which is beneficial because Counsell largely lets guys be accountable over their own routine.
As Wicks experiences his first big-league spring training, a lot of it is so new. He’s still learning what he can and can’t get away with at the MLB level, but the veterans gave him some advice.
“They told me, ‘Believe in yourself and you don’t have to do anything outside of what you can do; you’re here for a reason,’” Wicks said. “’Be who you are.’”
Regardless of whether it’s at the start of the season or not, those who know Wicks say his career is on an upward trajectory.
“His career is going to be long and fun to watch,” Hendricks said. “I’m just glad I get to be a small part of this beginning and see where it takes him.”
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