Jordan Wicks
LHP Kansas State
Kansas State LHP Jordan Wicks also ascended from second round consideration into first round value after getting more insight into his offseason progress and film study. Three above average pitches and the ability to command the strike zone have the Wildcat in the first round right now.
2. LHP Jordan Wicks, Kansas State
Bat: L. Throw: L. 6’3″, 220 lbs. Born 9/1/1999. Hometown: Conway, AR
2019-2020: 9-3, 2.85 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 112/30 K/BB in 110.2 IP.
While Ty Madden remains the top prospect in the Big 12, Jordan Wicks is easily the fastest riser. The Conway, Arkansas native announced his presence with a very effective freshman season for Kansas State with a 3.61 ERA and an 86/26 strikeout to walk ratio over 84.2 innings, but it’s what he’s done since then that has made scouts sit up and pay attention. Combining his shortened 2020 season with Kansas State with an exceptional run through the Northwoods League, Wicks is 5-0 with a 0.39 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, and a 55/9 strikeout to walk ratio across 46 innings this calendar year – that’ll play.
There’s really not much to dislike with Wicks at all. Coming from a durable 6’3″ frame, he throws with clean arm action and gets a little bit of crossfire from a closed off delivery, hiding the ball well along the way. His fastball sits in the low 90’s and peaks around 93, nothing crazy but enough given the rest of his profile. His changeup is a plus pitch that has fooled hitters throughout his college career, coming in with great fading action to the arm side that plays especially well off his delivery. There’s a pair of breaking balls as well, though at this point, they play better off his other stuff than on their own.
The changeup is certainly his weapon, but his above average command combined with his deception makes everything play up significantly. Wicks’ name is gaining steam fast and he could be challenging Madden by the spring, with a pretty high floor already as a back-end starter. An uptick in either his velocity or his breaking stuff could push him into the back of the first round conversation, and an uptick in both (which is very plausible given his clean delivery and high spin rates) will put him right smack in the middle of it.
Jordan Wicks, Kansas State LHP
Seymour’s KSU teammate Jordan Wicks (#83 on the top 150) had a better showing. His fastball (90-92 MPH) also had some sink and arm-side tail and profiles more as a ground-ball offering, but it pairs well with his plus changeup. A low-80’s pitch, it’s got good velo separation and some fade, and Wicks disguises it well by mimicking his fastball arm speed. He leans most heavily on the change, but he also flashed an average slider that he can work down and away from left-handed hitters. Jared Shuster (#25 overall) and Ian Seymour (#57 overall) rode a similar profile to high picks this summer. Wicks has a half-tick less velocity than Shuster and doesn’t have the unique fastball characteristics Ian Seymour does, so he probably fits just below them as prospects.
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6. Jordan Wicks — Kansas State
Jordan Wicks had an excellent freshman season, posting an ERA of 3.61 in 84.2 IP, showing his ability to handle a high inning count. His BB/9 and K/9 rates of 2.76 and 9.14 were both better than average, laying the groundwork for a great 2020.
In 2020, Wick threw 26 stellar innings, posting a FIP of 1.74 and a wOBA allowed of 0.189. He maintained his strong BB and K rates, walking just 1.38 hitters per 9 and continuing to strike out 9 batters per 9 IP. The biggest improvement that he made though, was halving his H/9 allowed, down from 9.78 to 4.50, bringing his WHIP all the way down to 0.65.
Part of how Wicks was able to accomplish that was through the movement on his fastball. Kansas State Baseball Analytics (@ksu_analytics on Twitter), posted a TrackMan reading from a February 29th start for Wicks against Fairleigh Dickinson, showing a swing and miss that Wicks had gotten on his fastball for strike 3. The pitch clocked in at 91.8 MPH with an above-average spin rate of 2390 rpm. That above-average spin on his fastball lets Wicks create deception with the fastball, to induce swings and misses and weak contact.
Of course, drawing the conclusion that Wicks routinely averages above-average RPM on his fastball from a one pitch sample is not a good practice. I’m simply observing that Wicks has shown the ability to get to that point and, given his success in 2020, that it’s probably pretty repeatable.
Wicks has definitely shown that he can have success at the collegiate level and it will be intriguing to see how that continues and what his pitch arsenal looks like in the future.
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Wonder what round for Wicks?
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