It wasn’t long ago Kyle Hendricks was a relative unknown in the baseball world. Now known as ‘The Professor’, Hendricks is doing his best to pass his knowledge to the next generation of Cubs pitchers.
The 28-year-old righty has been entrenched as a Cubs starter since the 2015 season, which just happens to coincide with when the Cubs signed veteran Jon Lester to his six-year, $155 million mega-deal. Hendricks was on local Chicago radio station 670 The Score talking about the impact guys like Lester and former Cub John Lackey had on him early on in his career. (You can listen to the full interview here.)
"“[Lester] doesn’t have the responsibility to do that or he’s not told to do that. It’s just the person he is and what he wants to pass on. A lot of that probably comes from Lack. I had the pleasure of playing with him (the last two years), which was unbelievable. I learned so much from him as well.”"
Of course, the Cubs did just sign Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood to join him, Lester, and Jose Quintana, who was acquired during last seasons trade deadline, to make one of the best rotations in baseball. However, Cubs still have plenty of young arms in the minor leagues who only a few seasons away from contributing.
Players like Adbert Alzolay and Oscar De La Cruz, who are both in Mesa, AZ with the Cubs spring training club, relish the chance to speak with a player like Hendricks, who lead the National League with a 2.13 ERA in 2016.
"“That’s where I’m trying to get to now,” Hendricks said. “I came up playing with some of these guys, so I know them a little more since I’ve been in the system. So it makes it a little easier when we’re out here taking (pitcher fielding practice) in a group, just to start talking pitching with some of these guys. I definitely try and take that on. I just love baseball so much and talking pitching, it’s not a burden at all for me.”"
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If any of the Cubs top pitching prospects turn out to be anything like Kyle Hendricks, trading for the Professor could go down as Cubs President of baseball operations Theo Epstein’s best move during his tenure in Chicago.