3 Cubs players who need to step up to keep the team in contention

3 Cubs player who need to step up: #3 - Kyle Hendricks

There have certainly been times this year when Kyle Hendricks has looked sharp. In 15 games this year, eight of them have been quality starts and he has shown no signs of injury since coming back from his year-long shoulder issue.

But there have still been plenty of times where Hendricks struggles and turns in a blow-up outing like he did against the Atlanta Braves last week. While I don't expect to see Hendricks return to ace-form at this point in his , a little more consistency would go a long way especially with the bullpen getting overworked right now.

With Javier Assad seemingly joining the rotation after his seven-inning gem against the Toronto Blue Jays and Caleb Kilian getting sent back to Iowa, Hayden Wesneski is the only long reliever in the bullpen at the moment. This means starters like Hendricks need to start going deeper in ballgames and turning in quality innings.