Five years ago I did a session with Rowan Wick and his dad, Clayton. Working on a cutter/slider.
The third time he unleashed the Rawlings screamed, “Whoosh.” It sliced 10 inches sideways like a machete. It went supersonic and bit into the air like a crocodile. It sounded like it was in pain. It wasn’t just filthy, it was covered in so much slime you couldn’t see white.
A few days later Rowan was long tossing with a high school kid. When they shortened up he cut the cutter loose again. An even louder, “Whoosh.” The kid was stunned. “What the hell was that?” That was a genuine 20-carat MLB cut fastball.
Rowan loves his curveball and it’s blue chip. But I think the cutter/slider is even better. Since then Rowan has nibbled, teased, dabbled and probed the cutter, not sure if he wants to add it to the mix.
Until now.
This week he notched his fourth save with the Cubs, obliterating the Cardinals with three K’s in an inning and a third. He was a lights out gunslinger with the cutter out of his holster and spraying bullets like Jesse James.
Lefty Tommy Edman bit the dust on a fierce laser beam that looked like a heater until it broke down and in and jammed him up like a sardine.
Just to show the cutter is effective against sticks from both sides of the plate, Rowan doused Paul Goldschmidt with a pair of machete swipes off the end of wood.
Rowan has used the cut/slider a bit over the past two seasons but it took manager David Ross to convince him. They huddled as close as you can get with social distancing and Rossy suggested Rowan needed a third pitch just to boost him over the window sill.
Voila! A cutter is reborn. “Whoosh.”
Dave Talks Baseball 