MESA, Ariz. — As the Cubs continued fighting for a playoff spot into September last season, they called on a rookie in Jordan Wicks to help stabilize the rotation.

From his eye-opening debut in Pittsburgh through the end of the year, Wicks provided the kind of production that wasn’t necessarily expected but was what the Cubs needed. Even though they didn’t get to the finish line, Wicks played a big role in almost getting them there.

But that doesn’t mean he came without struggles.

On Sept. 30 in Milwaukee, in Wicks’ final start of the year, he had the worst outing of his young career. His offense gave him a six-run lead after the top of the first inning, but Wicks didn’t make it out of second as the Brewers tied the score. It was a reminder that he isn’t immune to the ups and downs in the big leagues.

The silver lining from that game? His new manager, Craig Counsell, was sitting in the other dugout.

Wicks has talked to Counsell about that matchup during spring training, getting insight on his struggles that night from the former Milwaukee skipper’s perspective.

“It’s just when a pitch isn’t working, and then when the team can eliminate that, I have to have other options,” Counsell said Friday. “That’s what [Wicks] kind of ran into in some starts, and [he has] to have confidence in some other options. I think Jordan’s probably been able to go through games and times with a fastball-changeup, and that’s enough. And then, if you don’t have one of those pitches, though, in a game, how do you survive?”

One way Wicks has worked to figure that out this offseason is improving his slider.

Armed with an impressive changeup, Wicks went to what he’s called his “bread and butter” pitch 29.7 percent of the time in 2023. Meanwhile, his slider accounted for just 4.1 percent of his total pitches. If he can get to a point where it’s a trustworthy secondary option, that would be a huge boost to his overall arsenal.

“[After getting experience in 2023] he’s more onto, ‘Where do I get stuck in games? If this isn’t working, where do I go to? How can I prevent getting stuck?'” Counsell said. “That’s kind of the things that I’ve talked about a little bit about just starts he felt stuck and ways to kind of combat that. So, it’s really giving himself more options. Obviously, he’s got a good changeup. I think it’s a similar story of, can you rely on your off-speed stuff when something else isn’t working?”

Wicks started the Cubs’ 8-1 win over the White Sox in the Cactus League opener at Sloan Park on Friday, allowing one run (on a solo home run) over 1 2/3 innings. He said his goal in his first spring outing was mainly to feature everything in his first game action of 2024, but he also wanted to see how the work he did on his slider this winter translated.

He pointed to some second-inning sliders, in particular, as pitches he felt really good about.

“The second pitch to [Dominic] Fletcher was really good,” Wicks said, “because we got him 0-2, and then we threw another slider off of it that was a little bit more extended off, and that one was really good, too. We did what we wanted with it. So, I was really happy with that. We threw one to [Rafael] Ortega that kind of was middle-middle, but also for that, we were trying to get ahead and get in the zone. So I mean, I can’t really say I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to there. I was really happy with those today.”

Again, it was only the first game of spring training for Wicks. Getting the slider to the level he needs it to be at is going to be a process. Still, he understands how important it could be to his future success in the major leagues.

“The big thing about me is gonna be people are gonna prepare for the changeup,” Wicks said. “And so, to have that other seed to be able to plant in people’s heads and have another thing that they have to prepare for is gonna be huge. Hitters in this league are too good to where you can only have one or two pitches to put them away with. You gotta have multiple options to kind of divert their attention.”

Wicks is going to do what he has to do for the rest of spring as he attempts to lock down a spot in the Cubs’ rotation to start the season. But that’s also one of the bigger questions surrounding camp right now: With Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga penciled in right now, who will the fifth starter be?

Counsell hasn’t seemed too worried about figuring that out. While making the Opening Day roster is important for players, after nine seasons of managing, Counsell is well aware that “we can’t survive with five starters. It’s going to take eight, nine starters for us that are gonna make multiple starts.”

The first five starters aren’t going to be the only five starters for the Cubs this season. Whether it’s Wicks, Javier Assad, Hayden Wesneski, Drew Smyly or someone else who breaks camp as the Cubs’ No. 5 starter, they could all be called upon to take the ball at some point.

That’s how Wicks is choosing to look at this rotation battle. Sure, he wants that spot to start the season. Getting to the big leagues is why these players do what they do, and especially after getting his first taste of it as a starter last season, Wicks wants to stay there.

But he also understands that, right now, his job is to get himself ready to produce for whenever his next opportunity comes.

“I gotta prepare for a season, wherever that may be, Wicks said. “I got things that I need to clean up, personally, and for me, it’s just focusing on how I can sharpen myself and be the best version of myself heading into this season.

“Wherever that is, it is, but for me, I can only worry about myself and do the best job I can for me. Whatever happens, happens.”

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