Kyle Hendricks & The Chicago Cubs Are Reaching Peak Performance
Another day, another win.
At this point it’s okay to get bored. That’s how Kyle Hendricks wants it:
Then again, pretty easy to pitch to contact when you’ve got this guy in center
And you can manufacture runs yourself
Through 3 May starts, Hendricks has gone 3-0 and posted 25 innings (8.1 on average/start) with 12 hits and 1 walk against 17 strikeouts, 1 ER and a .141/.161/.188 against. More impressive is the 0.36 ERA coming from 1 ER in 25 innings – a 4th inning home run to 1st ballot hall of famer Joey Votto last night. He’s thrown 274 pitches in the last 3 starts and basically made one mistake.
It’s a beautiful sight:
I went in depth last week on how Hendricks is able to be so good despite looking so bad each and every year to start:
Point is you can think of his pitching style as an evolving form of intelligent life. It’s constantly adapting and getting better based on experience and I’m running out of words to describe it so let’s just agree He’s Really Fucking Good and it’s a privilege to watch him deal.
Speaking of privilege…
Last 20 Heat Check:
It’s a goddamn privilege to watch the Cubs dominate. They’re 16-4 over their last 20 with one major buzzsaw coming tonight in the form of Luis Castillo. I’ve routinely called him the Non Fat No Calorie version of Pedro Martinez and for good reason: the guy is nasty.
Most important then is Quintana pitching deep enough not to burn the bullpen. Nothing worse than burning several relievers in a loss. That’s why I’m dialed in on Q pitching deep enough to give the lineup a chance to hang one crooked number. A 3-run homer should do the trick but I don’t want to get greedy.
Point is the Cubs have 15 more games in a row and the bullpen is well rested. Every game the Cubs can spare without burning up arms is a huge advantage over this stretch. So the emphasis is on Q to battle with Castillo. It’s a huge test for Q, the lineup, the Reds, Castillo… literally everyone playing tonight can go out and prove something. Should be a good one.
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Cubs Heat Check Meter:
We’re officially teetering on Javy Baez el mago levels of being hot. We’re right there, so close to having sex.