Pittsburg, PA (K-State Athletics) – K-State baseball standout and first-rounder Jordan Wicks struck out nine batters in his MLB debut Saturday, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 10-6 victory over Pittsburg.
Wicks, who was selected No. 21 overall by the Cubs in the 2021 MLB Draft, became the fourth Cubs pitcher since 1901 to strikeout at least nine batters in an MLB debut, joining Thomas Diamon, Dutch Ruether, and Mark Prior.
A native of Conway, Ark., Wicks earned his first MLB win against Pittsburg after he fanned nine batters over his five-inning start while holding the Pirates to one run on two hits and a walk.
First career strikeout for @jordan_wicks99!
Welcome to The Show. 👏 pic.twitter.com/piPV4LJiCW
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 26, 2023
Wicks was called up to the big leagues following a short stint with Triple-A Iowa Cubs. In seven starts, he went 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA and 30 strikeouts including a season-high seven in his final outing.
In his three-year career at K-State, the Cats’ all-time strikeout leader was named 2019 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, 2019 Freshman All-America, 2020 Summer Breakout Prospect Award Winner (D1Baseball.com) and to the 2021 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.
In 2021, Wicks was named All-America Third Team (Collegiate Baseball), All-Central Region Second Team (ABCA/Rawlings), All-Big 12 First Team and National Pitcher of the Week after he led the Wildcats with six victories and a 3.70 earned run average. He struck out a single-season program record 118 batters to lead the Big 12 during the regular season.
Cubs! 👏 pic.twitter.com/FPQVrf8IFB
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 27, 2023
In 34 career starts, he went 15-6 with a 3.24 ERA, logging 203 innings with 230 strikeouts against just 58 walks. Wicks’ career earned run average is 10th best among qualified pitchers in Wildcat history.
In his freshman-of-the-year campaign in 2019, he broke the program’s freshman records in both innings pitched (84 2/3) and strikeouts (86) – both of which had stood since 1973.
Chicago concludes the weekend series with Pittsburg Sunday at 12:35 p.m. with Javier Assad starting on the hill.
With Wicks’ debut, K-State has three players currently in the big leagues with Nick Martini (Cincinnati) and Will Brennan (Cleveland).
