At the beginning of spring straining, Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks tweaked the grip on his curveball, a subtle change that would pave the way for his dominant start against the Giants in the Cubs’ 5-1 loss Tuesday.
“Just moved up on the horseshoe to get it away from the sweeper grip and just felt a lot tighter right away,” Hendricks said, “a lot tighter spin coming out.”
That pitch has been the key to his success in two starts back in the rotation, after looking lost to start the season. Back in control, Hendricks limited the Giants to two runs through seven innings Tuesday. He put the pitching staff in strong position for a bullpen day Wednesday, opened by right-hander Hayden Wesneski.
A flat Cubs offense, however, only managed four hits as the Giants, whose rotation has been ravaged by injuries, rolled out six different pitchers to get through the game.
“It’s been a tough year,” Hendricks said. “It’s been a grind. Our expectations are to be better, of course. But I’m proud of all the guys, man, coming in and getting after it, putting in the work. There’s no giving up at all and from this group.”
With the loss, the Cubs sunk to a 37-43 record, dropping to six games below .500 for the first time this season. They’ve been losing games despite strong starts from a Top 10 rotation in the majors. But if the Cubs are going to turn around a disappointing season, they’re going to need the rotation to maintain its strength and depth.
“Kyle’s good got himself really going again,” Cubs manager Counsell said. “And that’s really important.”
Hendricks turned over the responsibility of calling his own pitches when he was relegated to the bullpen last month. While last year, it put him in a good rhythm, this season, he’d been falling into predictable patterns.
Catcher Miguel Amaya, who has been behind the plate for Hendricks’ last two starts, has helped disrupt those tendencies and feature the curveball.
“His curveball’s been so effective,” Amaya said. “It’s been playing so good in the zone, out of the zone, matching with all the other pitches.”
Going into the year, Hendricks put an emphasis on the curveball, with its new grip. But it took time and repetition for him to find the right feel and shape.
He said assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos gave him a helpful cue at the start of the season, and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy has been encouraging Hendricks to use it.
“And Miggy’s just followed right along with that,” Hendricks said. “He’s calling it, he’s making me feel confident about it. Definitely the most confidence I’ve had in my curveball in my career. So I can see just how it’s changing the game for me and keeping them off balance more.”
Hendricks threw 26 curveballs Tuesday, generating four called strikes, five whiffs and five foul balls. One of those fouls broke Thairo Estrada’s bat in the seventh inning.
Hendricks has only thrown more curveballs once before in his career, in September 2020, when he tossed 29 en route to eighth scoreless innings against the Twins. And it’s a large sample size. Hendricks reaches 10 years of service time on Wednesday.
“It’s pretty crazy, to be honest with you,” Hendricks said of the milestone. “Never imagined it in my wildest dreams. Growing up as a kid, I just wanted to make it to the big leagues and loved baseball so much that that’s all I wanted to do.”