The Cubs announced this afternoon that they’ve agreed to terms with first-round draft pick Jordan Wicks. Wicks will receive a signing bonus of $3.1323MM, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). That’s exact slot value for the 21st overall pick, with which Wicks was selected.
In fact, the Cubs have come to terms with nearly all of their top picks, the club announced. Among their draftees in the top ten rounds, only second-rounder James Triantos, a third baseman from a Virginia high school, has yet to put pen to paper.
Wicks is viewed by evaluators as one of the more polished and safer arms in this year’s class. The 21-year-old performed well in all three of his seasons at Kansas State University (and dominated in a four-start cameo in the wood bat Northwoods League last summer). Over the course of his career with the Wildcats, Wicks pitched to a 3.24 ERA across 203 innings, striking out 26.9% of batters faced while walking just 6.8% of opponents.
The southpaw’s quality three-pitch mix is headlined by perhaps the best changeup in this year’s class. He also draws praise for his ability to command both sides of the plate and throws a 90-94 MPH fastball and a low-mid 80’s slider. Each of Baseball America, Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs, and Keith Law of the Athletic slotted Wicks among the twenty most talented players in this year’s class, with Longenhagen and Goldstein writing that Wicks “is the surest healthy bet (in the class) to stick in a rotation” aside from top ten picks Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.
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