NEWSLETTER
You couldn’t have asked for a better fill-in start when the Cubs lost Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks at the same time. It just so happened that the guy filling in is the guy who was expected to be in the rotation all along.
That guy is Kyle Hendricks, and he was fantastic:
On the game, Hendricks went 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits and one walk, while striking out eight. He was a maybe-coulda-been double-play away from it being an even six scoreless.
By every measure, the appearance was Hendricks’ best of the season, and his best start since … you guessed it, his start out in San Francisco last year. The near no-hitter. Dude must really like pitching against the Giants. (In case you were wondering whether Hendricks can simply dominate a particular set of hitters, only three of the hitters yesterday were in that lineup a year ago, and one of those guys – Thairo Estrada – scored that one run off of Hendricks. So, no, not much overlap in terms of the guys he schooled in each start.)
You wouldn’t quite call it vintage Hendricks, though, because he was getting so much from his curveball (which he threw way more than he usually does). The pitch had a 54%(!!!) CSW on the day, and he threw it 17% of the time. It was just a dominant pitch at getting whiffs and called strikes. The Giants didn’t put a single curveball into play. I’m not sure if it was just one of those days where he happened to have it locked in, or if something clicked – we know he’s been working on the pitch for years.
Craig Counsell talked about the curveball a bit in his postgame praise for Hendricks:
Hendricks, of course, passed on the praise there to his catcher, Miguel Amaya (Cubs.com):
‘Hendricks threw his signature mix of sinkers and changeups, but catcher Miguel Amaya called for the curveball more than usual against San Francisco. The 34-year-old pitcher also pointed out that Amaya targeted the upper part of the strike zone with fastballs. Hendricks said some of the calls from Amaya actually surprised him in spots.
“If it’s unpredictable to me, I think that’s a good thing right now,” Hendricks said. “It’s being unpredictable for the hitters too, so that’s kind of where we’re at. [Amaya’s] been so locked in. I’m trusting him.”’
More from Hendricks’ manager (Marquee):
“The great thing about Kyle is that he never stops trying to figure it out and he’s open to changing things, getting better, making adjustments,” Craig Counsell said. “And that’s how you get out of that stuff. And that’s how you get to this place. And that’s how you keep going. That’s a growth mindset.
“It’s that mindset that gets you to that place. With his accomplishments and his career, it’s easy to say, ‘this is the way I’ve done it.’ And I think Kyle’s real gift is that he’s just open and he’s willing to make those adjustments and make changes. And that’s why you end up in a place like this.”
Hendricks is actually in a really strong stretch since the start of June (0.63 ERA over 14.1 innings and four appearances), and this latest start pushed him into a historic place in Cubs history:
Now you hope Hendricks can carry the success forward into what is likely to be some more starts. Wicks (oblique) is probably out for a long while, and Brown (neck) may not return to starting right away when he’s ready to get on the mound.
