Starter Kyle Hendricks received a roaring applause as he exited Saturday’s 5-1 loss against the Nationals.
Hendricks continued his solid stretch to end the season, going 5 ⅓ innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
“Overall, pretty good,” he said of his performance. “Fastball command was a little bit off, just missing. I was falling behind some guys in the second, third and fourth [inning] but then locked in a lot better. [Catcher Miguel Amaya] was really good with me today.”
Hendricks held the Nationals’ offense in check for most of Saturday until the sixth inning when he allowed three consecutive singles that loaded the bases and led to four Nationals runs.
It’s been a whirlwind of a season for Hendricks, who was demoted to the bullpen in May. He thanked the Cubs for supplying him with opportunities to find himself again and said he’s ready for the offseason to “take a step back, get away from baseball for a minute.” Hendricks said he’s going to use the break to reset and make adjustments to his game.
Despite a career-worst 6.28 ERA, Hendricks said he still wants to pitch next season, no matter the role. With his four-year, $55 million contract expiring, where he’ll pitch is unknown, but he still has that competitiveness.
“I love competing and I want to be that consistent force again for my teammates,” Hendricks said. “That’s what I pride myself on. [I] wasn’t able to do that this year for the majority of the year. So no matter what the role is, just whenever I have the ball in my hand, being that consistent guy for my teammates.”
Rotation consistency
As the Cubs front office heads into the offseason and dissects what went wrong this season and evaluates each position group, the starting rotation should be the least of its concerns.
Entering Saturday’s start, Cubs starters had the ninth-best ERA in the majors (3.81). The group’s success is a testament to both its starters’ talent and the coaching staff’s preparation and approach, led by pitching coach Tommy Hottovy.
“It’s nice knowing you have that foundation set,” Hottovy said. “You’re always looking for ways to improve.”
Despite not having starters with overwhelming velocity, the Cubs’ staff succeeded this season by limiting walks — entering Saturday’s game, Cubs starters had allowed the sixth-fewest walks — and inducing soft contact.
But the surprise of the rotation has been the steady progression of right-hander Javier Assad, who started just 10 games last season. After oscillating between the rotation and the bullpen last season, Assad won a starting job out of spring training and responded by going 7-5 with a 3.34 ERA over a career-high 142 ⅔ innings.
For the Cubs to put this season’s disappointment behind them and challenge for the National League Central next season, the rotation will have to continue making strides. Hottovy said some want to pitch 180 innings next year.
“If that’s the goal — those are the things guys are focused on —we’re going to be in a good place,” Hottovy said.
This and that
• Right fielder Cody Bellinger played in his 1,000th career game on Saturday.
• Third baseman Luis Vazquez made his first career start.