{"id":483493,"date":"2026-02-16T10:36:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483493\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T10:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:36:36","slug":"chicago-cubs-lhp-jordan-wicks-looks-make-an-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483493\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs LHP Jordan Wicks looks make an impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Five years after the Chicago Cubs made him their top pick in the draft<\/a>, left-hander Jordan Wicks is trying to solidify a consistent role in the majors.<\/p>\n

Wicks, 26, begins spring training as part of the starting pitching depth mix that the Cubs expect to rely on over the course of the season. His big-league opportunities were limited last year, ultimately appearing in only eight games, all out of the bullpen<\/a>, and finishing with only 14 1\/3 innings for the Cubs.<\/p>\n

Wicks remains confident he can be an important part of the Cubs\u2019 pitching staff this year after an \u201cextremely frustrating\u201d 2025 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to compete, and you want to compete in a big way, but it\u2019s definitely tough to kind of balance what you want for your own career and being a part of the team because at the end of the day, you\u2019ve got to do what\u2019s best for your family while also helping the team win,\u201d Wicks told the Tribune on Sunday. \u201cAnd it\u2019s definitely a difficult balance because I love my teammates, love the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, me and the organization don\u2019t really see eye to eye on some things, which is sometimes difficult to deal with, but the people that you work with on a day-to-day basis really make being here special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of those feelings of frustration stem from what Wicks described to the Tribune as \u201ca lot of miscommunication\u201d early on last season about what his role would be, feeling he had been sprung into the bullpen and that created a tough situation as he had never pitched out of the \u2019pen before.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks meets catcher Carson Kelly after they allowed an Arizona Diamondbacks run in the 10th inning on Sunday, April 20, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The Cubs initially used him in relief in early July, tossing at least three innings in both appearances. They later utilized Wicks in back-to-back one-inning outings in late August before again bringing him back in late September, when he threw four shutout frames between two appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes what you get told and what ends up happening don\u2019t always line up, and I do think I\u2019m a big-league starter, I think I\u2019m a big-league caliber starter and obviously part of being on a good team is you can get backlogged a little bit,\u201d Wicks said. \u201cIt obviously leads into this year, just kind of not really knowing what\u2019s going to be ahead. But I think having that (relief) experience is going to be good for me because now I feel completely comfortable if they call me and go, \u2018hey, we need you to pitch out of the bullpen in these spots,\u2019 I\u2019m going to be OK with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going into the season, Wicks would love a chance to make the team in a bullpen role, explaining that\u2019s where he sees the biggest opportunity. He would rather be part of the Cubs\u2019 bullpen and then build up to a starter\u2019s workload if they needed him to start at some point in-season, though he didn\u2019t sound optimistic that the Cubs will let him do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be in Chicago and whatever role that looks like I will conform to that role and figure it out,\u201d Wicks said. \u201cYou don\u2019t play this game to want to pitch in Iowa just because you could start. You want to pitch in Chicago and contribute in any role that you can. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to push this year is to show them that, hey, I can do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

As camp gets underway, Wicks said pitching coach Tommy Hottovy has been \u201cawesome\u201d in directly conveying to him that the Cubs just want him to try to be his best and not worry about a role. Hottovy knows that\u2019s easier said than done.<\/p>\n

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Cubs starter Shota Imanaga warms up during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs reliever Jack Neely throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs manager Craig Counsell walks to the batting cages during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki and starter Shota Imanaga stretch during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs manager Craig Counsell observes during a spring training baseball Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs manager Craig Counsell smiles during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs reliever Jack Neely stretches during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs reliever Hoby Milner throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs starter Shota Imanaga throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs pitcher Jack Neely throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs reliever Hoby Milner throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki hits during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki hits during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cub reliever Daniel Palencia throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia throws during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner hits during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs manager Craig Counsell signs autographs during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki flips his bat during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

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Cubs President Jed Hoyer, left, and general manager Carter Hawkins address the media at a news conference on the first day of spring training Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Meghan Montemurro\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 20<\/p>\n

Cubs starter Shota Imanaga warms up during a spring training workout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you\u2019re not where you want to be, there\u2019s frustration, and he should want to be a big leaguer every single day,\u201d Hottovy said Sunday to the Tribune. \u201cBut we also are having a better team every single year and other guys are also trying to get better, and I think sometimes guys get lost in what they\u2019re doing versus where everybody else is. I think he understands that if he takes care of what he can do, he\u2019s going to be a really good pitcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of things that happen organizationally, from a player standpoint and from a coach standpoint, are out of our control. So the way I try to view guys in Jordan\u2019s situation is, what can we control? That is first and foremost. And if you can lay your head down at the end of the night, and you\u2019ve put in the work of the things that you can control and taking care of what you have to take care of, things are going to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hottovy was encouraged by Wicks\u2019 uptick in velocity last year and the adjustments he made while starting at Triple-A Iowa and how he performed in shorter bursts out of the bullpen. Wicks started throwing a harder slider during the last month of the season with better, more consistent results. He\u2019s been encouraged by how the pitch already looks in spring training and hopes it will get more hitters off his changeup, the key weapon in his repertoire. Throwing more curveballs for strikes is a focal point too.<\/p>\n

Although the rotation is essentially set for the start of the season, barring any injuries over the next six weeks, Wicks is among the pitchers the Cubs expect to count on at some point this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be hard to crack the roster and crack a pitching cemented spot, we\u2019re supposed to make it hard and if you want to have big goals, it\u2019s got to be hard as well,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. \u201cAnd that\u2019s where we\u2019re at with Jordan, that\u2019s where we\u2019re at with Ben (Brown). And so their job is to get themselves into the best possible place, their best versions of themselves. We\u2019re confident that makes them contributors when we need it, and that little bit remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always going to be some spots in the bullpen that we have some places to go and performance can change our mind there, absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Five years after the Chicago Cubs made him their top pick in the draft, left-hander…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,245026,5158,245029,245027,591,6784,85,205673,245028],"class_list":{"0":"post-483493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cactus-league","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-iowa-cubs","13":"tag-jordan-wicks","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-mlb-baseball","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-spring-training","18":"tag-tommy-hottovy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}