NEWSLETTER
It’s all just subjective stuff, and mostly for fun. So I truly don’t get too riled up about it.
But it still is notable to me when Kyle Hendricks – after all these years of consistent top 10/20 success – gets ranked behind 37 other starting pitchers in exercises like this:
this has become one of my favorite baseball pieces of the spring.
On deGrom: “The 1 of all 1s.”
On Greinke: “He has the brain of a No. 1 and the physicality of a No. 4, but he’s a 2.”
On Scherzer: “The inside of that guy is a No. 1.”
The Aces Project: https://t.co/bULmSvgoa9
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 30, 2021
The only unanimous aces in the game, according to the surveyed pool of 20 executives/analysts/scouts, are Jacob deGrom and Gerrit Cole. Walker Buehler, Shane Bieber, and Max Scherzer are ranked just behind them.
Hendricks comes in just behind Lance McCullers, Jr., Framber Valdez, and Carlos Carrasco, and the write-up will read familiar to you:
Hendricks gets penalized for his velocity. His fastball sits around 87 mph. It has always sat around 87 mph. He is also always pretty effective. His career ERA is 3.12. He averaged 177 innings per season from 2015 to 2019. He gets the job done.
“Stuff-wise, he’s like a No. 5,” one scout said. “But he plays up to a No. 3.”
Since his debut, among pitchers with at least 500 innings (Hendricks has over 1,000), Hendricks’ 3.12 ERA is 9th best in baseball. I hear the velocity stuff, but you don’t pull that off over 1,000 gd innings and seven seasons unless you’re a stud. As for the “stuff” comment, I mean, do you actually watch Hendricks at all? You cannot watch him – assuming you know a lick about baseball – and not notice that he has one of the nastiest changeups in baseball. What is that if not stuff?
So, apparently there are 37 pitchers better than the guy who is top 10 in baseball in ERA over the last seven years. OK. Fine. At least we know Hendricks isn’t bothered:
Btw, I talked to Kyle Hendricks about how whether it's projection systems, prognosticators or even scouts, he always seems to be underrated. Unsurprisingly, he's fine with it. He just gets results. https://t.co/cIHSKHJb6h https://t.co/2pc1BhJKWL
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) March 30, 2021
Oh, also? Not like Hendricks hasn’t been great in the postseason, too. His career ERA in the postseason matches his regular season ERA, exactly 3.12. And he did this:
Remember that time Kyle Hendricks dominated Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field to send the #Cubs to the World Series? @BleacherNation https://t.co/e1pOh9NcsF
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) March 30, 2021
