Jordan Wicks is scheduled to make his first start of 2026 for the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, stepping into the rotation for Edward Cabrera, who was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to May 21 with a blister on his middle finger.
The start is notable on its own terms: Wicks made his major-league debut at PNC Park on August 26, 2023, and won that game in a 10-6 Cubs victory over the Pirates. In that outing he struck out nine in five innings and, after a mound visit from pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, retired the 15 batters he faced in succession — a debut performance that made him the first Cubs pitcher since 1901 to win his first three starts.
Wicks’ road back to a big-league turn has been interrupted by injuries and limited work. He opened the 2026 season on the injured list with left-elbow inflammation and was shut down in spring training last year with irritation in the radial nerve in his left forearm. He missed six weeks in 2024 with a strained left forearm and another 10 weeks with a strained right oblique, making only eight appearances — all in relief — last season.
Cleared to pitch on April 18, Wicks began a 30-day rehab assignment with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs and was optioned back to Iowa after the stint. The Cubs recalled him from Triple-A before a game with the Astros; with Iowa this year he was 0-2 with a 4.44 ERA over 26.1 innings in seven starts, striking out 20 and walking 12. The last three starts in Iowa were the most encouraging: a 0.60 ERA, one run allowed across 15 innings, with 12 strikeouts and eight walks, and Wicks went six innings and five innings in his final two outings before the call-up.
Still, the matchup here carries friction. After being cleared, Wicks did not go more than four innings in any of his first five Triple-A starts before stretching out in the last two; the Cubs will be watching whether he can handle a starter’s workload after a string of short outings and recurring arm issues. Tommy Hottovy, who visited Wicks on the mound during that 2023 debut and later encouraged him, said he simply reminded the young right-hander of his strengths. "Literally, all I did was remind him that he’s good," Hottovy said, adding that Wicks should keep attacking hitters with his changeup and trust his stuff. Wicks acknowledged the advice, calling it, "Wise, wise words from Tommy out there." He still remembers his first game in Pittsburgh: "I know the place was packed that night. I remember that because I gave up a homer to the first batter of the game. It got loud in a hurry."
The roster move that opens the door for Wicks is straightforward: Cabrera was 3-2 with a 4.00 ERA in ten starts for Chicago, striking out 47, walking 20 and holding opponents to a.262 batting average over 54 innings before landing on the IL. Wicks’ assignment on Tuesday is the immediate fix, and it will serve as a test of whether the right-hander’s late Triple-A form and his early-career flashes can translate into reliable innings for the big-league club.
What happens next is simple and consequential: this start will tell the Cubs whether Wicks can be more than an emergency option. If he repeats the control and effectiveness he showed over his final three Iowa starts and stays healthy, he gives Chicago a rotation depth piece they sorely need; if he struggles to reach the fifth or sixth inning, questions about his durability and role will remain. Either way, Wicks returns to the same ballpark where his career began, and Tuesday will be the clearest measure yet of whether that beginning can become a sustainable middle chapter.
