Chicago Cubs: A resurgent Kyle Hendricks could be a difference maker

Getting right-hander Kyle Hendricks on the right track would go a long way from taking the Chicago Cubs from a solid team to a World Series favorite.

When the Chicago Cubs made their run to a World Series title two years ago, Kyle Hendricks stepped up. He did so on the biggest stages at the most critical times. First, he clinched the National League pennant in front of a raucous crowd at Wrigley Field. Then, he took the ball in Game 7 in Cleveland, doing everything possible to get his team a win.

And, once the confetti fell and the euphoria subsided (at least a little bit), he received some well-deserved appreciation. The soft-tossing righty finished third in National League Cy Young voting after leading all of baseball with a 2.13 earned run average.

Last season, Hendricks again pitched well. He battled injuries though, and really never got locked in like he did in 2016. And, whether you believe in the eye test or the numbers themselves, that seems to be the case again in 2018.

With Jon Lester looking like a legitimate Cy Young candidate once again, a clear void exists behind him in the rotation. And, if the Cubs, whose offense is putting up runs at a historic clip lately, want to leap frog the Brewers in the Central and set their sights on another title, they need another starter to step up.

Chicago Cubs: Starting pitching needs to find a rhythm

Despite inconsistencies from everyone not named Jon Lester or Mike Montgomery, the Chicago rotation has managed to stay pretty even keel – at least on paper.

As a whole, Cubs starters boast a 3.80 earned run average, which ranks fifth in the National League. But where they’ve really struggled is longevity. Only three rotations in the league have tossed fewer innings than Chicago’s.

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Those three teams? The New York Mets, Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers.

To a degree, Los Angeles makes sense – they’ve battled injuries on a near-constant basis since the season started. Only one Cubs starter, Yu Darvish, can say the same. And the contributions Montgomery made in his absence thus far have been nothing short of life-saving.

Getting Darvish back will surely help – but that seems unlikely. At least before the All-Star Break. The rotation has been the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ for awhile now – a trend that needs to change.

Lester paces the group with his 2.25 earned run average. Montgomery followed suit with a 2.43 mark in seven starts. But from there, a huge gap exists. Hendricks comes in at 4.21, Quintana at 4.31, Tyler Chatwood at 4.54 and Darvish rounds out the group at 4.95.

The Cubs need a bridge somewhere in that group. And it needs to be Kyle Hendricks.