As expected and discussed on Monday, Kyle Hendricks resumed a throwing program yesterday, playing catch from 90 feet. Obviously, that means he’s not too close to a return, but Hendricks reportedly felt good, saying “it felt 100 percent normal.”
According to Carrie Muskat at Cubs.com, Hendricks hasn’t thrown any offspeed stuff while playing catch yet, and has at least three to four more days before even considering a bullpen session. As you could probably guess, that likely means he will not be returning before the All-Star break.
Let’s do the math.
If Kyle Hendricks needed just three or four more days before a bullpen session, that would mean that he’d probably get one in on Saturday. Assuming he then made just one Minor League start a few days after that – which would be about as early as possible, and let’s call it Tuesday – and then started in the Majors five days after that, he’d be starting on the last game before the break against the Pirates at Wrigley Field.
So, essentially, if everything goes absolutely perfect and in the shortest conceivable time frame, the earliest he could return would be the last game before the break. Why even shoot for that? The Cubs probably won’t. And to be sure, Mike Montgomery has had some success, and you might as well allow Eddie Butler to keep going for now, because there may not always be opportunities like this to get them both multiple starts in a row.
But we’re digressing. The news today is good news, and it’s that Kyle Hendricks is feeling healthy and plotting his return: “My arm feels great, it feels normal to throw and I feel no pain in my finger, and that’s huge.
Hopefully, we’ll see him first thing after the All-Star break.