Kyle Hendricks shines in his return to the Cubs' rotation

The crowd rose to their feet as Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell took the ball from Kyle Hendricks in the top of the sixth inning Wednesday afternoon.

Though he still needed some help from Drew Smyly to escape the frame, Hendricks had just completed his best outing of the year against the San Francisco Giants. He held a no-hitter through five innings. He struck out eight hitters over 5 2/3 frames while holding them to just two hits (both in that sixth inning) and one walk.

For all the struggles that Hendricks has gone through in 2024, he still means so much to the organization. All anyone wants to see is him having success on the mound.

So, after seeing the way he pitched Wednesday — his first time starting since May 17 — the 37,673 in attendance at Wrigley Field showered him with love as they gave him a standing ovation.

“It makes me think the fans know what’s going on,” Counsell said after the Cubs’ 6-5 win. “I think it’s just respect as much as anything. I think they understand what Kyle’s been through, and so to have it happen was really cool.”

“It was well-deserved,” Dansby Swanson said. “He’s been throwing the ball well his last couple outings. Never once has he complained about anything. He’s showed up to do his job each and every day, and I think there’s so [many] valuable life lessons in that, right?”

To be frank, Hendricks didn’t really earn back a spot in the Cubs’ rotation.

Has he looked better since moving to the bullpen? Yes, including tossing 8 2/3 scoreless innings over three relief appearance so far in June. But the struggles he experienced through the first six weeks of the season — namely, a 10.57 ERA seven starts into the year — cost him that spot a month ago.

Really, there was no guarantee he’d ever start a game for the Cubs again. He’s a free agent after this season, and with the issues he’s had on the mound, it’s not clear if the team will want to bring him back as they look to be competitive into the future.

And at least for this season, had it not been for recent injuries to both Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks, he’s probably not getting the chance to take the ball Wednesday against the Giants.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m there yet,” Hendricks said about re-earning a rotation spot. “I don’t think I’ve earned it yet. I still have a long way to go, a lot to learn about myself. I wouldn’t have been in this spot. We had guys throwing way better than me, guys that were doing their thing, and it’s super unfortunate for them to go down.”

Of course, he did get the opportunity to start again, and he delivered the kind of performance the Cubs haven’t quite seen from him in a while.

The 34-year-old’s eight strikeouts over his 5 2/3 innings were his most punchouts in a single game since May 16, 2021. He also made San Francisco swing and miss 14 times on just 37 swings, a 37.8 percent whiff rate — those represent the most whiffs he’s gotten in a game since June 30, 2022 (15) and his highest whiff rate in a game since April 7, 2022 (45.9 percent).

Both Hendricks and Counsell praised Miguel Amaya for the way he called the game behind the plate. But it came down to Hendricks executing his pitches, and he did that Wednesday better than he has all season.

“He pitched really, really well,” Counsell said. “That’s his best outing of the year.”

Hendricks is very much an established big leaguer at this point. He’s closing in on 10 years of service time (a major milestone for major leaguers), and Wednesday he became only the sixth pitcher since 1961 to throw at least 1,500 innings in a Cubs uniform.

So, it would’ve been easy for this grizzled veteran to be a little stubborn. It would’ve been easy for him to not want to change the things that have gotten a guy who relies on control and command over velocity and stuff to this point.

But that’s not who Hendricks is, and his willingness to adapt has been on display from the time he was demoted to the bullpen to when he finally got the change to start again.

“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,” Counsell said. “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. … I think at the point with his accomplishments in his career, it’s easy to say, ‘This is the way I’ve done it.’ 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.”

“I truly tried to lock in on process,” Hendricks said. “I was so far from who I was as a pitcher that I really had to commit to my process, commit to getting better every day. Almost resetting and restarting a career, so I just really tried to take advantage of every single day. My focus wasn’t necessarily to get back [to starting games].”

Again, Hendricks likely isn’t in this spot if not for the injuries to Brown and Wicks.

Counsell said Wednesday morning that Brown (placed on the 15-day injured list last week) had been cleared to throw again Tuesday. Brown’s neck issue, which was initially categorized as a strain and believed to be a stress reaction, is no longer considered that severe.

The consensus from multiple doctors’ opinions is that he had a “benign area of concern.” He’s not symptom-free yet, but the issue is already dissipating.

“The initial diagnosis [of a stress reaction] is not something we’re operating under right now, which is good news,” Counsell said. “Ben’s really kind of ‘move forward as tolerated.’ And he’s feeling good, and we think that as this goes, this can move on much more quickly.”

Meanwhile, Wicks is still some time away from returning. He’s got a Grade 2 strain of his right oblique — suffered Friday in his first start back from a previous IL stint — which can always be tricky to deal with.

When either of them returns, there’s a possibly he re-joins the rotation while Hendricks heads back to the bullpen. But there’s still some time for Hendricks to prove he can consistently give the Cubs an effort like he gave them against the Giants.

Back when Hendricks was moved to the ‘pen, Counsell did say “the goal still is to get Kyle on track and get him back in the rotation.” Putting together more outings like Wednesday’s could mean actually earning that rotation spot back.

For now, though, Hendricks is just focused on pitching well the next time he takes the mound.

“I still have a long way to go,” Hendricks said. “That’s just one today. I gotta keep stacking them together. Whatever I’m asked to do whenever I’m out there, I’m just trying to make good pitches, stay with Miggy and do anything I can to help this team win. Really, that’s it.”