How Iowa Cubs hurler Jordan Wicks became one of Chicago's top pitching prospects
Jordan Wicks was walking through the visiting clubhouse at Werner Park in Omaha during his first day with the Iowa Cubs when he was abruptly stopped by a staff member. Wicks, who was recently promoted to Triple-A and was wearing his big glasses, was confused with the team’s clubhouse attendant.
“(He) goes, ‘Hey, can I get a Red Bull?’” Wicks said with a laugh.
The 23-year-old southpaw was new to the team, but was still surprised. Wicks was a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2021 and is one of the organization’s top pitching prospects. Still, Iowa catcher Bryce Windham had to clarify who his teammate was.
“Windham goes, ‘This is our new starting pitcher,’” Wicks recalls.
Wicks may not always look the part of a big-time pitcher. But he certainly throws like one. The lefty was a collegiate star and top draft pick. And now that he's in Triple-A for the first time in his career, he's one step away from the big leagues.
“He has worked so hard from the time that he was a kid,” said his father, Jeff Wicks. “This is all he’s ever wanted to do. So, it doesn’t surprise me that he’s having the success that he does because he works his tail off.”
"He'd just be like, 'Give me the ball.'"
Jordan Wicks always had many of the intangibles you’d want in a pitcher. He was competitive, knew how to attack hitters, had good control, owned a strong array of off-speed pitches, and looked for any way he could to get an edge over his opponents.
Jeff remembers passing along a story about a pitch Jordan didn't know how to throw when he was 9 years old. After Jordan read an article, he emerged from his room with his glove and ordered his dad to go outside so they could work on it.
When Jordan was 10, Jeff got him a book on the mental strength needed to succeed. Jordan read it cover to cover.
“He’s always had that drive,” Jeff said.
Wicks wanted to pitch against the best. When he competed on a travel ball team at age 10, Jordan told his coaches he wanted to pitch in the big games of bracket play, not pool play. By 12, they were bringing him in late in games he didn't start to close out contests.
“He’d just be like, ‘Give me the ball,’” Jeff said.
Wicks pitched on a team that includes current minor leaguers Connor McCullough (Chicago White Sox) and Tyler Cleveland (Seattle Mariners). But it usually was Wicks who got the ball. He didn’t have wicked velocity. But he had a great changeup that he taught himself and tinkered with over the years. And he could locate his pitches.
The formula worked well early on and in high school for Wicks, whose fastball sat in the mid to high 80s. Still, Wicks was nearly unhittable at Conway High School in Arkansas, going 8-1 with a 0.86 ERA and 80 strikeouts as a junior and 11-1 with a 0.84 ERA and 126 strikeouts as a junior.
Wichita State reached out. So did Arkansas and Texas Tech. The Kansas City Royals contacted Wicks about possibly selecting him on the final day of the draft during his senior season.
Mike Lee, now Wicks' father-in-law, was a retired scout for the Royals who saw him throw against his own son, Evan Lee, in high school. He thought Wicks had plenty of potential to pitch at the professional level. Lee told Wicks that if he went to college and got his velocity into the 90s, he could be drafted in the first three rounds.
Wicks decided to go to college. He had committed to Kansas State.
"It was just betting on myself," Wicks said.
And his career took off.
Wicks' stock soars at Kansas State
Wicks thought he could develop faster by pitching rather than sitting during his freshman year. There was an opportunity to pitch right away for first-year Kansas State coach Pete Hughes. Hughes was ecstatic to see the lefty on his new team.
"I knew it was a pretty good place to start when his name was on the roster," Hughes said.
Wicks was a competitor on and off the mound. He went 6-3 with a 3.61 ERA while leading the team in innings pitched, wins, strikeouts and walks per nine innings, earning Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year honors. When Wicks wasn’t pitching, Hughes had to calm him down because he’d get warnings from umpires.
“He’s locked in and wanting to compete and wanting to beat somebody whether he’s pitching or not,” Hughes said.
The competitive spirit was the bedrock of Wicks ‘success early on. But the other parts of his game started catching up when a large portion of the 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wicks, who made just four starts, returned to Arkansas when things shut down. He lifted and long tossed with his future brother-in-law Even Lee. Wicks had already gained some muscle by working out in K-State's weight room and saw some jumps in his velocity. But it got even better while he worked out with Lee, now a pitcher in the minors with the Washington Nationals.
"Just having someone like him to constantly challenge me and constantly be able to sharpen each other was really beneficial," Wicks said.
Wicks' velocity kept jumping and his stuff got even better. He finally got to showcase it while pitching in the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate league, in 2020. Wicks wowed everyone there, going 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA in four starts. When Hughes went to see his son play on the same team, he watched one of Wicks' bullpens.
Wicks had been a dominant pitcher early in his career because of a strong changeup and his ability to locate his fastball. During the bullpen session, he showcased a fastball with velocity in the low to mid 90s to go along with a strong cutter and curveball that complemented the elite changeup.
"When he started throwing his breaking ball and his cutter and they became plus pitches and then you have that arsenal with the warrior’s mindset and you're left-handed, then you've got a first-round on your hands," Hughes said.
That’s exactly what Wicks became after a strong 2021 season with the Wildcats when he went 6-3 with a 3.70 ERA and racked up a program-record 118 strikeouts, tops in the Big 12. Wicks was ranked as the 16th-best prospect in the draft, according to MLB Pipeline. The night before the draft, his agent spoke to the Cubs. They assured him that Wicks wouldn’t last past their pick at in the first round.
When they selected him with the 21st overall pick, Wicks became the first Kansas State player taken in the first round. The Cubs signed Wicks, sent him to the minors and quickly saw what made him a successful pitcher in college.
“There’s a lot to like about Jordan,” said Craig Breslow, Chicago’s assistant general manager and vice president of pitching. “We saw the pitchability and the college performance. I think the one thing that we’ve all seen now that he’s a Cub is just how competitive he is.”
Is there pressure with being a first-round pick? Not for Wicks
Wicks has quickly worked his way through the organization. After compiling a 5.14 ERA in four starts in High-A in 2021, Wicks had a breakout season in 2022 when he tallied a 3.80 ERA between High-A and Double-A. He’s been even better this season, tallying 35 strikeouts in 28 innings in Double-A before being promoted to Iowa.
“I think he’s got a good sense of his identity as a pitcher and we’ve been able to complement that a little bit,” Breslow said. “But the skeleton, the bones of a successful big-leaguer were certainly there from pretty early on.”
MLB Pipeline ranks him as the fifth-best prospect in the organization and the third-best pitcher. Wicks is embracing it all.
“I feel like I am going to have those high expectations and that’s not going to change where I was drafted,” Wicks said.
Wicks is working on his game and competing, even when he’s not pitching.
“He’s very cerebral,” Mike Lee said. “But there’s something to be said about having a good head on your shoulders, and he has a good head on his shoulders.”
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How Jordan Wicks became a prized pitching prospect for Chicago Cubs
