Chicago Cubs: Kyle Hendricks primed to be Cubs’ ace in 2018

Kyle Hendricks has posted two impressive seasons with the Chicago Cubs. Is 2018 the year he becomes the North Sider’s ace?

After a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS on Thursday night, the Chicago Cubs were officially eliminated from the playoffs. The Cubs could not defend their 2016 World Series title in 2017. However, they did win 92 regular season games and capture the NL Central crown for the second year in a row.

With the Cubs’ 2017 season over, it’s time to take a look forward to next spring when the 2018 season begins. As it stands right now, the Cubs have a strong core of young position players to build around. They include: Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Albert Almora, Ian Happ, etc. In addition to that, the North Siders have a young, postseason tested starting pitcher that could be a difference maker in 2018.

That pitcher is, of course, Kyle Hendricks who came so close to winning a Cy Young in 2016 and posted a solid 2017 campaign despite battling the injury bug.

Now that he is healthy, Hendricks appears to be set up to become the Cubs’ ace in 2018.