Chicago Cubs minor leaguer learned of AAA promotion while in a casino

Chicago Cubs 2021 first-round pick Jordan Wicks was recently promoted to Triple-A, and he had a unique story to tell about the moment he found out he was being called up.

“I was 25 feet away from the blackjack table in North Carolina. We had two off days, so [my wife and I] thought, ‘Let’s go to Cherokee, North Carolina,’ there’s a casino resort and a golf course over there — let’s get away for two days,” Wicks said. “So we get there, unpack our bags and we were headed down to get something to eat.

“We’re walking through the casino part and my phone rings. They said, ‘Hey, you’re going to AAA.’ I said, ‘There’s going to be a slight problem, I’m two hours away from Tennessee right now. But we made it work — we stayed there that night, went back to Tennessee, packed everything up and we flew out Tuesday straight to Omaha.”

Heading into the 2021 MLB Draft, Wicks was touted as the best left-hander in that year’s cycle after spending three years with the Wildcats, where he set single-season (118) and career (230) records for strikeouts. 

It was only a matter of time before Wicks earned the promotion. Rated as the No. 5 prospect in the Cubs organization, per MLB.com, Wicks flew out to Omaha for a battle against the Storm Chasers on June 30 and started his first game for the Iowa Cubs.

He was shaky in his first start, pitching 4.1 innings but allowed three runs on five hits including two walks. Wicks also threw 89 pitches in the outing, 56 of which were strikes. The former Kansas State star managed to strike out four in his Iowa debut but is expected to get back into his comfort zone once he is able to get his feet under him.

During his time with the Tennessee Smokies in Double-A this season, Wicks has a perfect 4-0 record on the mound to go with a 3.39 ERA through 13 games, where he struck out 69 batters in 58.1 total innings pitched. Wicks’ favorite pitch is his slider, which he complements with a running fastball that opposing bats can’t seem to figure out. He also works in a mid-70s curveball from time to time.

Now that he’s one step below the big leagues, Cubs fans should be excited about the potential of Wicks joining a starting rotation featuring Chicago’s 2023 All-Star pitchers Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele, not to mention Kyle Hendricks.