Chicago Cubs Season in Review: Rowan Wick
Rowan Wick is probably not a reliever who should have seen as much of a Major League mound in 2022 as he did.
But strapped for relievers, especially post-trade deadline, the Chicago Cubs needed all the bullpen help they could get. And coming into the season with a 2.95 FIP over 82.0 career innings, Wick deserved a full-time shot.
Through several spells at close in 2020 and 2021, he was never abhorrent, but never excelled to a point of true reliability. Wick has had control issues his whole career, walking 4.1 per nine both coming into, and coming out of, 2022.
Though Wick has never started a game in professional baseball, through is arsenal, it's clear he still hangs onto that legacy.
Wick threw six different pitches in 2022, though two of them, the change-up and sinker, he threw only a total of three times. Yet, his other four offerings, the four-seamer, curveball, cutter and slider were not well deployed.
Wick has thrown a cutter as a secondary pitch for most of his career, but it has never treated him as well as he has relied upon it. In 2022, it was one of the worst pitches in baseball, worth 4.4 run value/100 pitches.
Meanwhile, his fastball remained a out-pitch for the entire season, he threw it nearly 55% of the time and held batters to a slugging under .400 and a batting average of .248.
Going forward, Wick must stray away from the cutter, and look to further hone his curveball and slider.
Over the course of the season, Wick's 4.22 ERA in 64.0 innings kept the Cubs afloat, especially through May 25, posting an ERA as low as 1.69. Yet, he can't be relied upon as a back-end option if the Cubs want to be competitive going into 2023.
Their formula for bullpen success worked wondering in 2022, signing a litany of aged-veterans to cheap free agent deals. Though almost all of those players were cast-off at the deadline, a better-rounded team in 2023 might make that strategy even more useful.
Wick is best utilized as Triple-A/Major League swing depth.
Final Grade: C-
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