A lot of negative attention has been directed at the Cubs starting rotation this season, some of which has been deserved.
On one hand, prized free agent acquisition Yu Darvish has been battling an injury since the month of May that might end up costing him the rest of this season, while the high-upside addition of Tyler Chatwood has, well, not worked out.
When Rick Ankiel famously got the "yips" in 2001 and had to stop pitching, his walk rate was 20.2%.
Tyler Chatwood's current walk rate is 19.4%.
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) July 27, 2018
On the other hand, Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, and Kyle Hendricks can’t give up a run without fans jumping down their throats, despite their fabulous track records.
It hasn’t been pretty, but Lester’s ERA remains just slightly over 3, Quintana was riding a 15 start stretch of a 2.96 ERA before last weekend’s stinker, and Hendricks has regained his groove.
Hendricks, The 2016 NL ERA champ, 2016 NLCS clinching starter, 2016 World Series clinching starter, 2017 NLDS game 1 and game 5 starter, who finished the month of May with a 3.19 ERA while averaging over 6 innings a start, had a brutal month of June that, sadly, caused a large portion of the fanbase to lose faith in him.
His first inning results remain a problem, as he’s allowed 21 earned runs and 10 homers over his 22 first innings. Despite that, his July numbers and the eye test show us he’s ready to explode down the stretch.
There have been some ups and downs as he's made adjustments and tried to hone in on where he wants to be, but Hendricks has had a good month. In July, he has 33/5 K/BB in 35 IP. He has a 3.34 ERA, a 2.90 FIP, and a 3.11 xFIP. He's back.
— Aaron Kennelly (@aaron_kennelly) July 30, 2018
Now heatmaps for every sinker Kyle threw in June, when he had a 7.03 ERA, and then July, when he had a 3.34 ERA. pic.twitter.com/kVDH0a1zgf
— Aaron Kennelly (@aaron_kennelly) July 30, 2018
Kyle Hendricks' last 5 starts: 30 IP, 10 ER, 4 BB, 31 K, 3.00 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 22.0 K-BB%.
Hopefully can keep it up. Velocity has been better too.
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) July 30, 2018
.@kylehendricks28 had it going on. pic.twitter.com/6v8BeOKCqF
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 30, 2018
I’m as guilty as anyone of letting my emotions get caught up in the day-to-day happenings of the 162 game baseball season, but the criticisms of Hendricks were/are getting out of hand. His June slump is behind him and his second half & October track records are stellar. If you’re a fan that’s still nervous about the Cubs not having a true #1 on their staff, don’t be. You’d be a fool not to count on Hendricks to come through when it matters most.
