PITTSBURGH — It was here, in postcard-perfect PNC Park, with the dramatic backdrop of the Pirates-yellow Roberto Clemente bridge spanning the muddy Allegheny River to the city skyline on the other side, that Cubs left-hander Jordan Wicks made his major-league debut in 2023. A forever memory, but not the one you might have imagined.
His wife of less than a year, Megan, was here. Family and friends, 20 or 30 people in all, had parachuted in for the occasion.
‘‘Me and my wife talk about it all the time,’’ Wicks said Monday, the day before he is scheduled to make his first start of 2026 for the Cubs in place of injured Edward Cabrera. ‘‘Such a cool park to debut in, such a nice stadium, such a nice field.
‘‘I know the place was packed that night. I remember that because I gave up a homer to the first batter of the game. It got loud in a hurry.’’
This was unraveling quickly. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit Wicks’ second pitch of the night down the left-field line for a home run. Bryan Reynolds lined a single up the middle. Andrew McCutchen walked on five pitches.
Then came what the mike men on Marquee would call the ‘‘greatest mound visit ever.’’ That’s what Wicks remembers, at least.
‘‘Tommy Hottovy reminds me of it very frequently,’’ he said.
Hottovy, the Cubs’ pitching coach, made his way deliberately to the mound. You almost could feel Wicks’ heartbeat escalating with every step. Hottovy said his piece. Wicks nodded.
Connor Joe struck out swinging. Endy Rodriguez looked at a third strike. Joshua Palacios went down swinging. Wicks struck out the first two batters of the second inning, too.
From the time Hottovy made his stroll to the mound to when Wicks came out of the game after five innings, he retired all 15 Pirates batters he faced, striking out nine. He left the game with a 2-1 lead and wound up as the winning pitcher in the Cubs’ 10-6 victory. He was the winning pitcher in his next two starts, too, becoming the first Cubs pitcher since 1901 with victories in his first three starts.
‘‘Wise, wise words from Tommy out there,’’ Wicks said.
Hottovy said he and Wicks kidded each other about it Monday. But his counsel, he insisted, didn’t rise to the level of a baseball Solomon.
‘‘Literally, all I did was remind him that he’s good, [that] you don’t have to change anything,’’ Hottovy said. ‘‘I told him: ‘McCutchen is a smart hitter. He walked on a really good changeup. You keep doing the same thing, the rest of the lineup, they want to swing.’ And he punched out the side, throwing a bunch of changeups. It was just about reminding him, ‘Your stuff’s going to play.’ ’’
Wicks was 2-4 with a 4.58 ERA in 10 starts in 2024, missing six weeks with a strained left forearm and 10 weeks with a strained right oblique. He made only eight appearances, all in relief, last season and was shut down in spring training with irritation in the radial nerve in his left forearm.
He was cleared to pitch April 18 for Triple-A Iowa and went no more than four innings in any of his first five starts. But he went six and five innings in his last two before being called up.
Hoerner, Suzuki don’t start
Continuing his recent practice of sitting down slumping regulars, manager Craig Counsell didn’t start second baseman Nico Hoerner and right fielder Seiya Suzuki on Monday against the Pirates. Both, however, pinch-hit in the ninth inning of the Cubs’ 2-1 loss, with Hoerner grounding out and Suzuki striking out.
Hoerner, who hit four homers, drove in 22 runs and had a .908 OPS in his first 24 games, hasn’t homered in his last 29 games and is batting .198 with nine RBI and a .543 OPS during that stretch.
Suzuki hasn’t homered in 14 games since May 8 and is batting .151 with one extra-base hit (a double), two RBI and a .381 OPS in that time.