Not to be lost in the terrible moment last night (though it is far less important), or in the continued swell of homers, Kyle Hendricks was brilliant last night.
Consider that this dude was already roughly adjacent to the best three-game start stretch of his career, and he just casually busted out yet another gem.
Night school.
Powered by @Biofreeze. pic.twitter.com/49H2p0bhga
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 30, 2019
Hendricks was completely locked in last night, making virtually no mistakes, and drawing extreme praise from opposing manager, A.J. Hinch (Cubs.com): “He’s just really good. He won [an ERA title, in 2016] for a reason. His ability to change speeds is elite, his execution is up there with as good as we’ve seen this year, being able to throw the ball nearly exactly where he wants to. I haven’t seen if he made any mistakes, but there weren’t many of them. Watching by the contact and disruption of timing, he’s just really good. We didn’t have very many guys who had at-bats against him. You kind of have to pick fastball, changeup, and then he throws a couple of slow breaking balls. He just never, never gives in. His execution on the corners, off the corners, inside, up, kind of picture-perfect art of pitching by him.”
Kyle Hendricks and The Picture-Perfect Art of Pitching. Sounds like a book. A good one.
And, since I mentioned the earlier crazy three-game stretch earlier this month, you’ve probably concluded that Hendricks’ entire month of May was absurdly good. It was:
Kyle Hendricks just capped off what should be a Pitcher of the Month situation in May:
4-0, 1.81 ERA over 6 starts and 44.2 IP. 37 K, just 5 BB and 28 hits. Average game score: 71.
Just a ridiculously dominant month. pic.twitter.com/DFvcA9plS8
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 30, 2019
.@kylehendricks28 is the first pitcher since @ClaytonKersh22 (May, 2016) with four starts of 8+ IP and 1 ER or less in a month. pic.twitter.com/Jed2He7rsD
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 30, 2019
In conclusion, Kyle Hendricks is amazing, and this is the same damn pitch until suddenly it isn’t:
Kyle Hendricks, 87mph Fastball and 80mph Changeup, Overlay/Tails (regular speed). pic.twitter.com/rYfllN369k
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 30, 2019