A Tough 2023 Taught Hayden Wesneski How to Best Manage His Routines

Entering Spring Training, 2024 was just another season for Hayden Wesneski, but this year, he’s a lot more comfortable with his dual role in the Cubs organization as both a starter and reliever. 

Wesneski started the 2023 season in the starting rotation, but after a fistful of poor starts, he was demoted to Triple-A Iowa. When he made it back to the big leagues, it was in a long relief role, with a few spot starts and (late in the year, especially) a few high-leverage, one-inning outings. 

The young righty had good and bad outings as a reliever as the season went on, but the most important thing for him was the experience he had in how to set better routines for himself in his different roles as a pitcher.  

“Last year was a really good learning experience for me, because I have routines now, I know how to figure things out on the bullpen side, which is something that I haven't done a whole lot of,” Wesneski said. “Then the starting side, just getting into the rhythm of calling a whole game and getting through a lineup two to three times.”

Coming out of Spring Training for 2024, Wesneski was assigned to the Iowa Cubs starting rotation. The decision wasn’t as disappointing for him as it might have otherwise been, as he was reunited with manager Marty Pevey, who’s seen almost everything one can at the Triple-A level. 

Pevey said Wesneski has had a great improvement in 2024 so far, compared to last year, when he fell behind in the count against hitters often.

“He’s filled up the strike zone," Pevey said. "When he got in trouble last year, it was because he was always pitching behind in the count. This year, he’s thrown all four pitches for strikes and he’s in the process of redeveloping his changeup. He’s always had a changeup, but he’s trying to make it better against left-handed hitters.”

The go-to pitch in Wesneski’s arsenal isn’t a fastball, but his sweeper, which hitters saw 534 times in 2023. He keeps his sinker, cutter, and slider alongside those two pitches, along with the occasional change--at least, he did, for much of 2023. 

Wesneski threw his slider only seven times in 2023. It was used infrequently, but it’s a pitch he’ll keep on the back burner.

“If you can throw it, keep it," Wesneski reasoned. "I think I can use it more to righties. I think I just have to be picky with where I throw it, it plays off the sinker for righties and it plays off the lefties with the four-seamer."

Our Matthew Trueblood wrote about the notion of Wesneski not only keeping the slider, but thrusting it to the forefront of his repertoire, back in January. As Brandon Glick documented this week, though, so far, Wesneski has deployed a stripped-down mix instead. 

Throughout his minor-league outings, Wesneski didn’t disappoint, making two starts before being used in a long relief role with the I-Cubs on April 12, throwing 4 ⅓ innings, striking out four, walking one, and getting the win against the St. Paul Saints. Pevey remained most impressed with the way his sweeper continues to fool hitters.

“It’s a work in progress, but all Hayden has to do is hit the glove and pitch ahead,” Pevey said. 

The three outings for Pevey's squad were opportunities of which Wesneski took admirable advantage, as he threw a total of 10 ⅔ innings and allowed only three runs for a 2.53 ERA, striking out 10 batters and allowing only 12 baserunners. The results were so strong that the Cubs called him back up to help them finish out their three-game series against the Diamondbacks last week.

Wesneski, of course, wound up pitching four innings of shutout relief, striking out two and only allowing one player to reach base. The call-up also reunited him with mentors in the Cubs clubhouse he admires; Yan Gomes and Kyle Hendricks.

“When you have guys like Yan Gomes and Kyle Hendricks who take you under the wing and talk to you about this kind of stuff, you listen, right?" he said. "They’ve seen it, they’ve been there, they understand it to a T. You take in what they say and learn from it.”

Gomes was behind the plate for Wesneski’s return to the Majors. Wesneski kept to his M.O., throwing a sweeper the most often (23 times), then his fastball (18 time). The only other pitch he threw that night was his changeup, and that was only three times. 

Even with promising numbers in a long relief role, Wesneski was optioned back down to the I-Cubs the next day. But even having a day alongside the likes of Gomes is something he never lets go to waste.

“I try to take what I learn at the big-league level with him, and when I come down here, I use it and then eventually figure out what works and what doesn't and take it back with me to the big leagues,” said Wesneski. 

Once again, Wesneski wouldn’t have to wait long for his return to the big leagues. Hendricks and left-handed reliever Drew Smyly were both placed on the 15-day injured list, opening up another opportunity for Wesneski to serve as a long reliever out of the Cubs bullpen. 

He took to the mound again Thursday afternoon in the series finale against the Astros, and didn’t disappoint. The Cubs were down 1-0 when he entered the game in the top of the sixth, retiring Astros catcher Yainer Diaz on three pitches. The Cubs came back to take a 3-1 in the bottom of the frame, and Wesneski faced the minimum in the seventh and the eighth to keep the Cubs ahead.

Wesneski still figures to fill multiple roles for the team, which will make it harder to maintain routines that allow optimal performance. He's already done some of that difficult work, though, leaving only the challenge of building out the best possible pitch mix for the situations in which he finds himself.