You couldn’t have requested for a greater fill-in begin when the Cubs misplaced Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks on the similar time. It simply so occurred that the man filling in is the man who was anticipated to be within the rotation all alongside.
That man is Kyle Hendricks, and he was improbable:
On the sport, Hendricks went 5.2 innings, permitting only one earned run on two hits and one stroll, whereas hanging out eight. He was a maybe-coulda-been double-play away from it being a good six scoreless.
By each measure, the looks was Hendricks’ better of the season, and his finest begin since … you guessed it, his begin out in San Francisco final yr. The close to no-hitter. Dude should actually like pitching in opposition to the Giants. (In case you had been questioning whether or not Hendricks can merely dominate a specific set of hitters, solely three of the hitters yesterday had been in that lineup a yr in the past, and a type of guys – Thairo Estrada – scored that one run off of Hendricks. So, no, not a lot overlap by way of the fellows he schooled in every begin.)
You wouldn’t fairly name it classic Hendricks, although, as a result of he was getting a lot from his curveball (which he threw far more than he often does). The pitch had a 54%(!!!) CSW on the day, and he threw it 17% of the time. It was only a dominant pitch at getting whiffs and referred to as strikes. The Giants didn’t put a single curveball into play. I’m undecided if it was simply a type of days the place he occurred to have it locked in, or if one thing clicked – we all know he’s been engaged on the pitch for years.
Craig Counsell talked in regards to the curveball a bit in his postgame reward for Hendricks:
Hendricks, after all, handed on the reward there to his catcher, Miguel Amaya (Cubs.com):
‘Hendricks threw his signature mixture of sinkers and changeups, however catcher Miguel Amaya referred to as for the curveball greater than typical in opposition to San Francisco. The 34-year-old pitcher additionally identified that Amaya focused the higher a part of the strike zone with fastballs. Hendricks mentioned a number of the calls from Amaya truly stunned him in spots.
“If it’s unpredictable to me, I believe that’s a great factor proper now,” Hendricks mentioned. “It’s being unpredictable for the hitters too, in order that’s type of the place we’re at. [Amaya’s] been so locked in. I’m trusting him.”’
Extra from Hendricks’ supervisor (Marquee):
“The beauty of Kyle is that he by no means stops making an attempt to determine it out and he’s open to altering issues, getting higher, making changes,” Craig Counsell mentioned. “And that’s the way you get out of that stuff. And that’s the way you get to this place. And that’s how you retain going. That’s a development mindset.
“It’s that mindset that will get you to that place. Together with his accomplishments and his profession, it’s straightforward to say, ‘that is the way in which I’ve accomplished it.’ And I believe Kyle’s actual present is that he’s simply open and he’s prepared to make these changes and make adjustments. And that’s why you find yourself in a spot like this.”
Hendricks is definitely in a extremely robust stretch because the begin of June (0.63 ERA over 14.1 innings and 4 appearances), and this newest begin pushed him right into a historic place in Cubs historical past:
Now you hope Hendricks can carry the success ahead into what’s more likely to be some extra begins. Wicks (indirect) might be out for an extended whereas, and Brown (neck) might not return to beginning immediately when he’s able to get on the mound.