Chicago Cubs Young Starter Has Improved Specific Area Of Game This Year
Despite some of the stat line not looking too friendly, there is a notable improvement with one of the Chicago Cubs starting pitchers in one area of his game.
The Chicago Cubs have been able to stay afloat during the early portion of their season with two injuries to their starting pitchers, including their ace who is missing time with a hamstring injury.
With questions already present about the viability of this unit before the year started, it's been encouraging to see how the rotation has performed thus far.
One of their young starters in particular has taken an aspect of his game to the next level.
While the stat line might look a bit different compared to when he was called up in 2023, Jordan Wicks has 19 strikeouts through his three starts this season, almost reaching the 24 he had in seven starts last year.
The left-hander's strikeout numbers had him tied for 29th in the MLB entering Monday's action.
This new development is a positive for Wicks.
Last season, his strikeouts per inning number was 0.69. Now, it's up to 1.50. His strikeouts per nine innings have more than doubled during these three starts.
What's interesting is that, despite this newfound weapon of putting away hitters, his stats have been worse than in 2023.
He had an ERA of 4.41 last year that was inflated because of a poor outing to close the season. Right now, he sits with a 5.68 ERA.
Wicks is also allowing a higher opponent's batting average, hard hit percentage, and fly ball rate compared to grounders, while walking more hitters as well.
It will be interesting to see what his numbers look like when he reaches the seven starts he had a season ago.
The rookie lefty could be going through a rough patch right now because there is more film on him. That's why it should also be eye opening that his strikeout numbers have taken a massive leap.
Wicks should settle in and have his numbers positively regress to what he showcased in 2023.
If that does happen while his strikeout numbers stay up, he will be a solid pitcher at this level for a long time.
