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

Kyle Hendricks has risen to ace status

After finishing seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2014, Hendricks had an unassuming 2015 campaign. In 32 starts, the right-hander went 8-7 with a 3.95 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 180 innings pitched.

As it would turn out, that solid season for Hendricks set the stage for his break-out 2016 season. In 31 games (30 starts), Hendricks won 16 games, posted an ERA+ of 196 and struck out 170 batters in 190 innings pitched. Along with that, the 26-year-old Hendricks led the National League with a 2.13 ERA, helping him to finish third in the NL Cy Young voting.

Hendricks has made a living the last two seasons with a three pitch mix. That mix includes a fastball, curve-ball and change-up. While many pitchers in baseball today can reach 95-98 MPH on their fastball, Hendricks averaged 85 MPH with his heater this season. Hendricks’ main secondary pitch is his change-up which he throws around 28 percent of the time. Lastly, Hendricks uses his curve-ball less than ten percent of the time, averaging 72 MPH on the pitch in 2017.

After Hendricks scraped his cutter following the 2015 season, the percentage of soft contact against him increased considerably. In 2015, Hendricks last season with a cutter, 18.7 percent of the batted balls against him were considered soft contact. In the two years since, that number has risen to 25 and 22.5 percent in 2016 and 2017, respectively.