Chicago Cubs: Is There Cause For Concern With Kyle Hendricks?
Coming off a Cy Young caliber year in 2016, Kyle Hendricks has struggled in the early part of 2017. Should Chicago Cubs fans be worried?
Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks finished 2016 as Major League Baseball’s ERA leader. A 16-8 record with a 2.13 ERA and 188 ERA+ was good enough to land him a third-place finish in the Cy Young voting. Also, he started one of the most important games in the history of the Chicago Cubs. He held the Cleveland Indians to one run in 4.2 innings in Game Seven of the 2016 World Series. Chicago Cubs fans remember how that game finished — it ended the World Series drought that lasted 108 years.
Fast forward to 2017, a new season and the 2016 statistics no long matter. Kyle Hendricks is now 1-1 with a 6.19 ERA.
Hendricks allowed four home runs in his three starts, something he did not do until his 11th start in early June last season. His starts have lasted five innings twice and six in another. Although he has not pitched well, Joe Maddon could be pulling Hendricks to prepare for a long season plus an extended postseason run.
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Hendricks’ fastball velocity took a dip this season. His four-seam fastball lost two miles per hour from the 2016 season. Pitchers often have higher velocities early in the season and lose speed on their pitches as the season progresses. It is early in the season and his lack of velocity is something to pay attention to. If Hendricks’ velocity does not improve by the middle of May, there should be some legitimate concern.
Considering how Hendricks relies on changing speeds to gain an advantage on hitters, it is important that there is enough of a speed difference between his pitches.
Hendricks’ bread and butter pitch, his changeup, has not been as good as it was last year. Batters are hitting .333 off that pitch compared to .132 in 2016. Needless to say, that is a very small sample size, but Hendricks has not looked like he did last season. He needs to get his changeup to where it was last year. He does not blow away hitters with his fastball or sinker.
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The season is still plenty young, and Kyle Hendricks is too diligent in his preparation and research before each start to continue to struggle as badly as he has. It is unfair to expect him to pitch like he did last year, but now, he is pitching like a fringe fifth starter.