Jordan Wicks Developing New Curveball with Tread Athletics -

"Tread Athletics burst onto the scene a few years ago and has quickly gained a reputation for developing pitchers at all levels of the game. Many of their instructors have been plucked away by MLB orgs, with Cubs pitching VP Tyler Zombro standing out as one of their more prominent expats. Tread has helped Jameson Taillon with his repertoire and is doing the same for lefty Jordan Wicks, who has yet to achieve escape velocity from Triple-A's gravitational pull."

"In fact, Wicks only went to the curve twice out of 217 total pitches at the MLB level in 2025. That was just under 1% of his total repertoire, a sharp decrease from what was already limited usage in '23 (8.4%) and '24 (6.1%). That tends to happen when a pitch gets decidedly negative results, and even more so when it leads to massive reverse splits like those Wicks has pitched to so far."

"As a changeup specialist who leans into traditional usage, it wouldn't be surprising for Wicks to fare a little better against right-handed batters. After all, those guys are seeing his best pitch more than 10 times as often as their counterparts. He actually pitched to strong standard splits over 34.2 innings in his first season with the Cubs, but that flipped the following season before turning disastrous last year. Even accounting for the small sample, lefties hit .440 with a 1.040 OPS against Wicks in 2025."

Tread Athletics has gained a reputation for developing pitchers and has influenced several instructors to join MLB organizations, including Cubs pitching VP Tyler Zombro. The organization assisted Jameson Taillon and is now working with left-hander Jordan Wicks. Wicks, the No. 21 overall pick in 2021, produces surprisingly little vertical movement on his curveball despite a high arm slot and released the ball from a 54-degree slot less often than only 10 lefties. Wicks used his curve on fewer than 1% of MLB-level pitches in 2025, contributing to massive reverse splits and severe struggles against left-handed hitters.

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