The return of Kyle Hendricks is coming. Thursday afternoon, Hendricks made his first rehab start with Triple-A Iowa. He threw 54 pitches over 1 2/3 innings. The line wasn’t exciting — six runs, six hits and a walk versus three strikeouts — but it’s not the line that mattered. Considering it’s his first game action since July 5, the Cubs…
Over the last couple of years, as Jameson Taillon got further away from his second Tommy John surgery, he’d had a thought in the back of his mind. He wanted to figure out a way to improve his slider. It wasn’t as consistent as he would’ve liked it to be. He thought there was plenty of room for it to…
MESA, Ariz. — Adrian Sampson knows nothing will just be given to him in his line of work. He knows he’s still got to earn it, regardless of how well he pitched for the Cubs for the majority of his 19-start stretch in the rotation last season. “Thinking that you deserve things is not a good way to look at…
The impressive second-half performance in 2022 by the Cubs has been well-documented, with their 39-31 record coming at least partly as a result of a turnaround by the team’s starting pitching corps (2.89 ERA in the second half, third-lowest in baseball). That improvement is one of those sticking points that make the Cubs confident they can truly be a competitive…
As free agency continues Cubs Pitching Coach Tommy Hottovy joins the podcast! How involved is he in free agency and trade talks? Can Kyle Hendricks actually increase his velocity at the age of 33? Plus, the guys are looking back at the 4 players added to the Cubs’ 40-man roster, and Anthony Rizzo inks a new deal with the Yankees.…
From July 6 through the end of the 2022 season, 11 different pitchers started at least one game for the Cubs. Missing from that group was Kyle Hendricks, who the Cubs had hoped would round back into form after a down year in 2021, but who instead battled injury and ineffectiveness and didn't pitch once in the second half of the season.
The Cubs are planning on a healthy Hendricks being back in the rotation come next season, but it remains to be seen whether they can truly count on that in 2023.
When Hayden Wesneski walked off the mound at the end of his third career start for the Cubs on Wednesday, he didn’t think he had his best stuff all night. He said his slider — and particularly his two-strike slider — wasn’t playing the way he wanted it to, and that’s part of what forced him to grind through five-plus…...
Adbert Alozlay is back to pitching games after being put on the shelf at the beginning of spring training.
A return to the big leagues in 2022 is certainly possible. If he does pitch in a Cubs uniform this season, here's what it would look like.
Happy Monday and happy last week of August, folks.
The Cubs are headed up north to take on the Blue Jays, and they're leaving a couple of starters behind. Later in the week, they'll head to St. Louis with a couple of extra faces when rosters expand, and I'm sure there will be plenty of speculation over the next few days as to who might take up those spots.
It should be an eventful week with at least a couple of players making their MLB debuts, plus it'll be the last time Cubs fans have to see Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina playing in Cardinals jerseys on their TV screens. But first, we have to talk about what's happening in Toronto.
So let's get into it. Here's the first international edition of the Monday morning Cubs thoughts.
When it comes to figuring out what the Cubs want to do with Keegan Thompson, one thing has remained constant for the second-year right-hander: he's willing to do whatever the staff asks of him.
Yes, Thompson is fine taking on any role for the pitching staff, which he has done admirably the entire season. But once the Cubs return from the All-Star break next week, there's only one role that the team should be using Thompson in — as a full-time starting pitcher.
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