'A start you can build on': Cubs' Hayden Wesneski returns to his best shot

OAKLAND — Rookie Hayden Wesneski didn't feel like himself for the first few half of the Cubs' 10-1 win against the A's on Monday.

Hard to say. Yes, he had a hard contact in the first inning and a few more hits in the second, but that was finicky. He then turned and stopped 15 straight hitters.

“Maybe tomorrow I'll watch it and I'll be happier about it,” Wesneski said of his dominant start. “But early on I lacked confidence. And then third, fourth inning, I was starting to get into a rhythm, but it still didn't feel right. But sixth and seventh inning, they got me right where I needed to be.

Keep in mind, this was an outing where Wesneski held off an A for one run through seven innings. He's bounced back from a rocky starting pair, where his ERA rose to 7.50, to return to the lofty bar he set late last year.

“Being your best critic is a great thing,” said veteran catcher Yan Gomes. “…But at the same time, we're in the big leagues, they're big league hitters, so you have to give yourself a little grace.”

The biggest difference between Wesneski's first two starts and her appearance on Monday is her confidence in her sliders.

Wesneski's sliders are at their best when she spins them in front. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy identified that Wesneski's mechanic had slipped a bit in that area, and they worked to fix the problem in between starts. Sometimes subtle changes make all the difference.

In his first two starts, Wesneski didn't feel the sliders, so he didn't use them much. Last season, it was his most used pitch (31.9%), according to Statcast. But to start the year, he's thrown his four-seam fastball more often than his slider (28.5%).

“I knew it was my best shot,” Wesneski said. “It's just something – to get ahead, to put aside, it doesn't matter – I have to be able to manage all my other throws with that one.”

Wesneski is trailing on the count, working his way through the start. The catch-up rate on its slider is 17.4%, compared to 32.1% last year.

“It's kind of a double-edged sword,” manager David Ross said before Monday's game. “When you're not ahead you try to put the shot a little bit smoother, and then that can put you behind. And then you want to be a little more careful if (the slider) doesn't have the shape you want.”

On Monday, Wesneski said leaning more on the sliders was part of the game plan, but he also felt the ground, giving him the ability to execute the plan.

“He made some quality shots in that first half,” said Gomes, “They maybe surprised us a bit with his approach. They took a lot of early swings, so we had to make adjustments. And it was so nice to see that from him, didn't put his head down, just got right back in there and pitched.

Of the 90 shots Wesneski made on Monday, 37 were slides (41%). He got the batter to chase him out of the zone at a 40% clip.

Wesneski's foul gave him plenty of room to work together. Patrick Wisdom scored twice, extending his streak to four straight games with at least one home run. He became just the fourth Cub in the modern era to record eight plus home runs in 15 games to start the season, joining Lee Walls (1958), Hank Sauer (1954) and Gabby Hartnett (1925). Cody Bellinger went 5-for-5 for the first time in his career.

Meanwhile, Wesneski is feeling more and more like himself.

“This is definitely a start you can build on,” he said.