Chicago Cubs veteran Kyle Hendricks tends to keep everything in perspective.
And with that comes a blunt assessment about how his 2024 season has played out and his future in Chicago. Hendricks, in the last year of his contract with the organization he has been part of for 12 years, knows Saturday’s start on the penultimate day of the season might be his last outing in a Cubs uniform.
“Honestly, to still be on the team here and finishing the year, I would say it’s very unexpected from where I was at two months in to this season,” Hendricks said this week. “If it weren’t for a lot of our injuries, then that would have happened — they would have moved on and gone somewhere else. But things happen as they do, and I’m just so thankful for everyone that did stick with me and gave me the opportunities when they didn’t necessarily need to be there.”
For as much as Hendricks tries to keep his emotions in check, he expects Saturday will be tough. Hendricks anticipates two moments that will likely hit him the hardest: walking out to the bullpen to warm up pregame and passing the fans in left field, and when he leaves the mound and heads into the dugout at the end of his outing.
Hendricks’ parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece, and his wife, Emma, and son, Luca, will be at the game.
“They’ve been there for all of it, but they’re going to want to be there for potentially the last also so of course you want to make sure you check all those boxes just in case,” Hendricks said. “They’re going to be there, soak it in. I hope it’s just another start where they happen to be at and then the last one is a long way down the line for me at Wrigley.
“I try to stay on task, focus on the pitching one at a time, and I’m really going to have to work hard at that.”
As first-time free agency looms for Hendricks, 34, a return to the Cubs might not be in play. Should that option be unavailable, Hendricks wants to keep pitching, even if it means joining a new organization. It’s the one thing Hendricks believes he has learned the most about himself through a challenging season. He loves to pitch and that passion is fueling him to continue regardless of the name on the front of his jersey.
When it comes to his next destination, whether the Cubs or one of the 29 other teams, Hendricks said he doesn’t have many priorities in free agency. All he wants is a chance to pitch in the big leagues.
“I’m excited to kind of take a step back, gather myself and see what the process is going to be like this offseason, to get back to being myself and perform out there on the mound for wherever I’m at,” Hendricks said. “I hope that there’s just an opportunity with someone, whoever it may be, just excited to take full advantage of it.
“You never know, things can come full circle. You can always bounce around different teams and come back. The doors never close. There’s always possibilities. So I’m hoping to honestly pitch good enough to find myself back here pitching in the playoffs for the Cubs at some point.”
Four months ago, Hendricks’ tenure with the Cubs was at a crossroads.
A 10.57 ERA through seven starts prompted the Cubs to put him to the bullpen in late May, something Hendricks had experienced just twice in his storied career and both coming in unique circumstances — July 2016 and the 2018 wild-card game. This move had no end date, though, no guarantee Hendricks would return to the rotation.
Hendricks has witnessed the business side to the game throughout his 11 years in the majors, that even those who played important roles in the Cubs’ run to the 2016 World Series title don’t always get the ending to their Cubs career like they envision, most recently experienced by Jake Arrieta and Jason Heyward. Hendricks knew he needed to perform.
“And I kept telling them that,” Hendricks said. “When I got called into the office. I’m like, ‘I know, this is terrible, this is so bad, I’m sorry.’ I’m apologizing, I’m putting everything I’ve got in and trying to get the work done, but the results just weren’t coming there early.
“You never know when your last day is going to be in this game, or especially with a certain organization, and I’ve seen that more than anybody with these Cubs, seeing guys come and go, a lot of big names, a lot of guys that’ve done a lot for this organization. Just super lucky that it’s worked out for me the way that it has.”
Hendricks’ three weeks in the bullpen proved to be the change he needed to turn his season around. His willingness to embrace a role that some with his pedigree and accolades might resist left an impression on his teammates. He posted a 3.14 ERA over 14 1/3 innings spanning five appearances when injuries to starters Jordan Wicks and Ben Brown led the Cubs to start him again June 19.
While there have been a couple of rough outings in the three-plus months Hendricks has been back in the rotation, he remains grateful the Cubs stuck with him through the most challenging season of his career. For the World Series champion and one of the best pitchers in franchise history, traded into the organization at 22 and just one year removed from being drafted, Hendricks embodies the best of this era of Cubs baseball.
“All of a sudden, now to be 10-plus years later, I feel like a completely different person,” Hendricks said. “I’ve matured and grown up, become the man I am today because of what’s happened in Chicago. … It’s just been a special, special time, a special experience for all of us and it’s such a huge chapter in my life.
“I know it’s going to take me a long time to dive into all these memories and remember all these things, but I know I’ll always be coming back to Wrigley.”
