Former Rockford Rivet shines in Chicago Cubs debut

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PITTSBURGH, PA — The Chicago Cubs are in the thick of a contested NL Central race and called upon a left-handed pitcher that knows the Rockford area quite well.

Jordan Wicks made his MLB debut on Saturday in Pittsburgh against division rivals the Pirates.

8•26•23I want to thank everyone for the support you have shown me the last couple days. It has meant more to me than you’ll ever know. I’ll never forget this day and I’m truly blessed to be able to spend this day with the people who helped me get here.Go Cubs Go! pic.twitter.com/ZCevOOa8pS

The Cubs selected Wicks 21st overall in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Kansas State University.

Before pitching for the Wildcats, Wicks played four games for the Rockford Rivets in 2020 where he posted a 0.45 ERA that summer with a whopping 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

He also became the first Rockford Rivet to play in a Major League Baseball game.

Wicks' night would start off rough after giving up a solo homer to Pittsburgh's Ke'Bryan Hayes in the first, but he would settle in and finish with an impressive line of five innings of work, allowing one run on two hits and striking out nine.

Of the 80 pitches that Wicks threw on Saturday, 47 of them went for strikes.

He would help the Cubs to victory as they beat the Pirates 10-6 before taking two of three in the series.

The Cubs welcome the Milwaukee Brewers who currently sit in first place, three and a half games ahead of the Cubs in the standings.

Wicks is slated to pitch again for the Cubs on Friday.

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