The Cubs are set to activate left-hander Jordan Wicks from the 60-day IL on Sunday, supervisor Craig Counsell informed reporters (together with Megan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) on Saturday. Wicks is scheduled to take the ball for Sunday’s begin in opposition to the Nationals in D.C. in a transfer that may push again the following begin of right-hander Jameson Taillon. An lively roster transfer gained’t be essential to make room for Wicks as a consequence of Sunday’s scheduled roster enlargement, however Chicago will nonetheless have to clear a spot on their 40-man roster with a purpose to activate Wicks.
The lefty’s return to the majors is one thing of a birthday current for him, as he’ll flip 25 on Sunday. The teenager was the Cubs’ first-round choose again in 2021 and made his large league debut late final season. Since then, he’s pitched to roughly league-average outcomes with strong peripherals. His 4.31 ERA is sort of precisely league common (99 ERA+), however his 3.98 FIP paints a considerably rosier image. Wicks was off to a robust begin in 28 innings of labor this 12 months with a 25% strikeout fee in opposition to a 7.8% stroll fee that left him with a formidable 3.10 FIP and three.80 SIERA, however the southpaw has struggled to remain wholesome this 12 months.
After an elbow scare that proved to be insignificant value him the month of Might, Wicks has now missed two and a half months as a consequence of an indirect pressure he suffered in mid-June. Now that he’s wholesome once more, the teenager figures to fit again into the membership’s rotation regularly down the stretch. Whereas the Cubs nonetheless sit on the periphery of the playoff race with a 70-66 document that leaves them 4 video games again of a wild-card spot, with playoff odds of simply 5.4% per Fangraphs it appears probably that the main focus for Wicks down the stretch will probably be establishing himself as a wholesome and efficient rotation possibility for the Cubs headed into subsequent season.
Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga are poised to return subsequent season as a robust top-of-the-rotation duo, whereas Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad determine to proceed holding down the center of the membership’s rotation after strong seasons of their very own. Franchise icon and 11-year MLB veteran Kyle Hendricks seems all however sure to not return in 2025, nevertheless, because the pending free agent has struggled to a ghastly 6.75 ERA in 102 2/3 innings of labor this 12 months. That leaves common begins out there within the membership’s rotation subsequent 12 months that quite a few younger arms might look to capitalize on, together with Wicks, right-hander Ben Brown, and prime pitching prospect Cade Horton.
Within the quick time period, nevertheless, the Cubs should resolve how they need to arrange their rotation for the stretch run this September. With Wicks again and Steele, Imanaga, Taillon, Assad, and Hendricks all wholesome, the membership might go for a six-man rotation or as soon as once more demote Hendricks to the bullpen. Whereas the previous would supply the membership the chance to handle Imanaga’s innings as he continues his transition from NPB play to the majors, the latter is the route they took after they confronted a rotation crunch again in Might, when Hendricks was sporting a brutal 10.57 ERA by seven begins.
The soft-tossing righty’s 5.62 ERA in 12 begins since returning to the rotation has been an enchancment over that aforementioned eye-popping determine, it’s nonetheless properly beneath common, and on condition that actuality it will hardly be a shock if the Cubs moved him again to the multi-inning reduction function that noticed him submit a strong 3.08 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 14 1/3 innings earlier this 12 months. That’s significantly true given the truth that Imanaga has thrown simply 146 2/3 innings thus far this 12 months, a determine that’s a great bit decrease than the 170 frames that symbolize his profession excessive throughout his time in Japan.
