Will the Kyle Hendricks bullpen move work for the Cubs?

When Craig Counsell announced a new move to try to get Kyle Hendricks back on track last, it was a bit surprising.

The question of what to do with Hendricks, the longest-tenured member of the Chicago Cubs‘ roster, hadn’t gone away. After an off-day to think things over, the Cubs’ skipper said Tuesday that the 34-year-old would be shifting to the bullpen — where he’d pitched from twice before in his major league career — for the time being.

Counsell didn’t commit to this being a long-term move. With the way the injury bug has hit the Cubs so far this year, and with eight pitchers still on the injured list despite Drew Smyly being activated Saturday, they may end up needing him to start games for them again.

For Counsell, this move is to get Hendricks back to pitching the way he did as recently as last season — with an eye on getting him to a level where he can be trusted as a starter.

“Our pitching is precarious enough right now that we can’t — we are going day by day with a lot of this right now, and I think we should,” Counsell said. “The goal still is to get Kyle on track and get him back in the rotation. That’s absolutely what I’d like to do.”

In the long history of Cubs, there have been plenty of important pitchers. Hendricks wouldn’t be very far down the list.

This is still the guy who started Game 6 of the NLCS and Game 7 of the World Series in 2016. He led Major League Baseball with a 2.13 ERA. There’s no denying how important he is to this franchise.

But this is still a business where winning is the ultimate priority, and the 2024 version of Hendricks hasn’t contributed to that. His 10.57 ERA as a starter is by far the worst mark among starters with at least 30 inning pitched. He’s 0-4 on the year, and the Cubs have lost five of his seven starts. It just wasn’t good enough.

Hendricks spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since Counsell announced the decision, and he of course acknowledged his struggles this year. He didn’t shy away from discussing how he could be better. In fact, he actually was excited at the prospect of finding a new avenue to try and help the team win, and in a way, he wasn’t surprised that this decision was made.

“You expect something to happen,” Hendricks. “We know it was just going terrible, obviously. You can’t put up those kind of results. We’re in a win-now kind of mode, and that’s exactly where I want to be. I want to be part of a team that’s winning. I just want to be doing my part to contribute to that winning. I wasn’t doing that, so now, hopefully, a little reshape of focus and perspective, see something new out there. Hopefully, I can work on the things I need to work on, turn it around and just help the team get some wins.”

There’s some optimism that this can work, particularly because it’s unlikely he’ll have to face hitters multiple times in a game while pitching out of the bullpen.

“He’s had some success the first time through the order, and then after that, it’s gotten pretty dicey,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “I think this gives him a chance to work through some stuff. There’s a chance he continues that trend and has success there.”

Hoyer’s got a point.

This season, the second time through the order, 65 batters have combined a 1.067 OPS off Hendricks, and they’ve struck out just 9.2 percent of the time. The third time through the order, 25 batters have combined for a 1.942 OPS and have struck out just 4 percent of the time (while also posting a 24 percent walk rate).

But the first time through the order, opponents have a .743 OPS and are striking out a 26.4 percent rate. Take out a rough first time through the order against the Texas Rangers on March 30 and a bad first relief appearance against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, and those numbers look even better (.638 OPS, 29.6 percent strikeout rate).

Of course, you can’t leave out the bad stuff. But that’s why there’s optimism that this move can work.

“I think he has been successful the first time through in a lot of these games, and so I think that’s something that gives some hope,” Hoyer said. “In my career, I think the bullpen makes guys attack guys, and I think that that’s really important. … I do think from a competitive standpoint, some of that’s positive, that guys realize, ‘Hey, wait. I can take this same attacking mentality into the rotation.’ And so, I do think it puts guys in a different mindset right away, and sometimes, that change in mindset can help.”

As previously mentioned, Hendricks’ first relief appearance against the Braves didn’t go so well. He came into a 1-0 game in the top of the eighth inning, and he gave up two runs (while getting a little lucky a Marcell Ozuna fly ball was caught at the wall instead of going for a three-run homer).

There’s no guarantee this is going to fix him. As someone who’s only pitched in relief twice in the majors before (in July 2016 and in the 2018 NL Wild Card game), a lot will change. That includes his daily routine, how he keeps his body ready throughout a ballgame and more.

He’s already picked the brains of other Cubs pitchers who’ve both started and relieved. As he goes on in this bullpen journey, he’ll surely discover what works best for him.

He may never start another game for the Cubs, but the overall message from both the team and Hendricks is that he’s only focused on how he can help win ballgames, regardless of his role.

“He wants to do what he can to help the team,” Counsell said. “That never wavers for Kyle. He’s willing. He doesn’t have to be happy with it, but I think he still knows that he’s going to do whatever he can to help the Cubs win games.”

“I’m excited for the challenge of that,” Hendricks said. “Excited for the challenge, excited for all that doubt, but just putting the ball back in my court. Focus on what I need to focus on. The only way I can do all those things is if I take care of my business and go out there and make my pitches. Try and simplify everything, keep my focus there. Yeah, just do what I love to do: Be here, get the ball and be with my friends playing baseball.

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