PITTSBURGH – Few can think, talk and play the game like Kyle Hendricks, who does it all without sounding smug or condescending or ever really changing the expression on his face, whether it’s the playoffs or a Cactus League game.
Hendricks is a Dartmouth College graduate with a degree in economics and a World Series Game 7 starter with a 2016 championship ring, bridging the Cubs from Year 1 of Theo Epstein’s rebuild to the baseball superpower they’ve become now.
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The Cubs acquired Hendricks – a Class-A pitcher and the other prospect in a deal headlined by Christian Villanueva – in the Ryan Dempster trade with the Texas Rangers at the 2012 deadline. Hendricks debuted in 2014 and grabbed a spot in the rotation after the Fourth of July trade with the Oakland A’s that flipped Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel for Addison Russell. Hendricks, Anthony Rizzo, Pedro Strop and Javier Báez are the only other active players remaining from that last-place team.
Even without Yu Darvish – Sunday’s shutdown at Class-A South Bend appeared to be a season-jeopardizing setback – the Cubs can still line up a playoff rotation with Jon Lester, Cole Hamels and Hendricks (2.88 ERA in 10 career postseason starts).
With the Cubs about to begin a stretch of 23 games in a row – Hendricks starts Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park – The Athletic caught up with The Professor to get his perspective on a Cubs season that has not gone according to plan but is still on track for more October baseball at Wrigley Field.
How do you stay in the present tense and not ride the rollercoaster metaphor that everyone seems to be using this season?
It’s just focusing on the process the whole time. When you get results-based, it’s obviously really, really easy to ride that rollercoaster and the emotions of the ups and downs with it. When you trust in your routine and the work you do, then you know it will come. You get satisfaction out of the things you do day in and day out, so it’s not just everything riding on every fifth day. You know what you’ve been working on in the bullpens and how everything’s been feeling every single day, so if the results aren’t there, you don’t panic too much.
As a group, how do you find that balance between not overreacting – while also not letting things slide – and giving a realistic appraisal of where you’re at?
A lot of it is experience, to be honest with you, and the personalities of the guys in this clubhouse, having the steadying voices in here [with Jason] Heyward. Rizz has been around a long time, obviously, on the pitching staff, Lester. It’s just having guys like that around. The message from Joe [Maddon] to just never panic – that filters all the way down. But then when you have guys like that who have been around, they know when to kind of kick it in gear, and when something is needed to light a fire.
Looking back on it, what sort of subtle impact did Ken Ravizza have on what the Cubs have become now, in terms of confidence and personality? (Ravizza, a trailblazing sports psychologist and Joe Maddon’s longtime confidante, died last month at the age of 70.)
It was a huge impact. It feeds right into what Joe does. It’s a lot of the same mindset that Joe carries. Whenever he was in here, it was the same message. He treated everyone the same. When you have those traits that everyone has in the organization – everyone’s treated the same, no one’s above anyone else and you treat everybody with respect – it’s the same message coming from everyone. It’s pretty easy to get on board all together. Ken was at the forefront of that because he was the one talking to Joe. And I know Joe got a lot of his ideas from Ken as far as the mental approach to things. It definitely trickled down to all of us.
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It’s still relatively early, but has this been maybe the best job Maddon has done as manager in his four seasons here, all things considered?
For sure. It’s been more managing in a way than it has been the last few years, so just with that alone, I think so, for sure. Having to move guys in and out, different lineups, the stuff with the pitching staff that’s been going on, it’s just been a lot of unknowns. But you look at the end of the day, and the results are there, and so is the record. Yeah, it is amazing that we’ve been able to shift all these guys in and out. That all starts with that mindset that everyone’s treated the same. So when these young guys come up here, a [David] Bote or whoever, they feel like they can be themselves and contribute right away and they help us win ballgames.
How do you explain what David Bote has done since he’s come up here?
Man, it’s fun to watch. Really fun to watch. You can’t explain it, man. You saw it in spring training, though, the energy he played with and just the confidence in his game. It was there in spring training and it’s really never left through this whole year so far. He’s just been riding the wave. When you get that good feeling and that confidence, it just kind of keeps growing. To just have it translate from spring training to Triple-A right to the big leagues – through all those levels – it’s been the same game for him. He hits. He makes the plays on defense. Good baserunner. He’s just a good baseball player all-around.
This has been an MVP-caliber season for Javier Báez: What’s your favorite “Javy Being Javy” story from the minors before he blew up nationally?
Man, he was doing all the same things. It was the tags. It was the great baserunning. I loved seeing the baserunning plays, the swim moves, getting safe at second or third base when he’s stealing. You think he’s dead to rights sometimes and he just makes something happen. That was always happening in the minor leagues. And then just the defensive plays. He was always on top of it, just his instincts and like moving himself positionally in the minor leagues, having a good feel for what was going to be thrown and getting a better first step than really anybody else.
What have you observed watching Cole Hamels? Is it surreal seeing him in a Cubs uniform, even after all the big-name additions to this team?
For sure, it’s really strange. I was sitting in my college dorm watching the Phillies go to the World Series [in 2008]. It’s really weird to see him here, but he’s one of those guys, personality-wise, who just fits in perfect. He’s just such a good guy, and a baseball guy. At the end of the day, that’s what we have in this clubhouse, guys who just love the game, love playing the game. The knowledge that he brings in here, it’s just a little bit of renewed energy for the pitching staff, but it filters down to everyone else, too. It’s just sitting on the bench talking baseball with him, whatever it might be, the things he learned in Philly. He talks about working with Carlos Ruiz a lot. Just little tidbits. You’re not really going to learn how to throw a certain pitch from him. It’s a mindset thing. He just brings a lot of knowledge on that front. Just a really good guy to talk to – for all of us.
What gives you the confidence that come October Jon Lester will be the pitcher that everyone expects?
Just that he is Jon Lester. At the end of the day, that’s really all there is to it. He’s Jon Lester. When hasn’t he done that? He’s the guy and he’s been unbelievable for us this year. It’s just been a stretch lately where I know he hasn’t thrown the ball the way he wants to, but it’s still only been a couple starts. The year as a whole, he’s really been throwing the ball unbelievable and he puts in more work than anybody. Especially his sides, his bullpen sessions, I know he’s been getting after it. He’ll go out there and he’ll throw a 70-pitch side, fully sweating, 100-percent effort. He’s going to do whatever needs to be done to find it and adjust. I know he’s doing that in preparation for October. And he’s been there enough times that he knows what needs to be done to get himself ready for that – 100 percent he’ll be there.
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What are you going to do with all the bobbleheads? (The Cubs did a Hendricks giveaway last week at Wrigley Field.)
Phew, that’s a good question. I got 36 of ‘em in my locker. I got a pretty big family on my mom’s side, but I don’t think it’s that big. So I guess whoever wants two or three of ‘em? I’ll give ‘em all to family. There are people asking, but I’ll definitely be left over with probably 20 of ‘em that I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with.
(Top photo: AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)
