Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell is giving some praise to one of his pitchers. Counsell is giving flowers to hurler Kyle Hendricks after the pitcher found rhythm in a strong outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. The Cubs beat St. Louis 5-1 behind seven shutout innings from Hendricks.
“Coming off his last start, just to go seven innings tonight, we couldn’t have asked for any more,” Counsell said, per The Athletic. “He pitched wonderfully. I thought he was just great, really similar to the San Francisco start. Did a great job and set us up to have some success tomorrow as well.”
It's good news for Cubs fans to see Hendricks do well. The club is battling to stay alive in the NL Wild Card race. Chicago has a 46-49 record heading into Saturday's games.
The Cubs and Kyle Hendricks are not meeting expectations
Hendricks is getting battered around most of this season on the mound. The veteran pitcher holds a 6.78 ERA this year, which is far worse than what is expected from him. His performance Friday was a true bounce back, after getting smacked in his previous two outings. Hendricks performed terribly in a game on June 30 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He gave up seven runs on seven hits through just 3 and 2/3 innings.
The good news for Hendricks is that he seems to be getting some control back. The hurler is slowly chipping away at that ERA, which was over 10 back at the end of May. Hendricks now has a 2-7 record this season. He has given up 53 total runs so far this season in 17 appearances. He gave up only 57 runs through the entire 2023 campaign.
The Cubs need his numbers to continue improving. Chicago is mired in a very competitive National League Central Division this season. The team is last in the division, despite a record just three games under .500. Eight games separate this entire division, with the Milwaukee Brewers in first heading into Saturday's games. The Cardinals, Pirates, Reds and Cubs are all within striking distance before the All-Star break. Chicago won 7 of their last 10 contests.
The Cubs are also dealing with several injuries to their pitching staff. Hendricks is getting a little bit of a longer leash, because there are so many other guys around him who dropped like flies. Fortunately for Chicago, the patchwork quilt that is their rotation is working well in recent games.
“When you have good starting pitching, you feel like have a chance to win every night,” Counsell added. “You feel like you’re in every game. That’s what our starters have done all year. Performances like we’ve gotten on this road trip, they’re winning games kind of on their own. That does so much for your team and gives you so much confidence when you turn the page to the next that you got somebody that’s going to put up zeroes.”
The Cubs play the Cardinals again on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled at 2:15 Eastern.
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