Hendricks roughed up in loss to Padres |
SAN DIEGO - No one will ever forget what Kyle Hendricks has meant to the Chicago Cubs (7-5) and their organization over the past decade, but you need to face the reality at some point. That reality is harsh, but it needs to be said, as Hendricks's days as a reliable starter may be over.
You saw the writing on the wall back in 2022, but after a bounce-back showing in 2023, the Cubs chose to pick up his option for 2024 with the hopes of getting one more good season out of him. Following a rough Spring and a horrendous first two starts, many were wondering if Hendricks's time was coming to an end sooner than even he thought as he took on another good San Diego Padres (7-8) at Petco Park. Like in his first two outings, Hendricks struggled with his command, falling behind in counts and not putting hitters away. You can get away with that against mediocre lineups, but not against teams like Texas, Los Angeles, or the Padres as the Cubs drop their first series on this West Coast trip 10-2. Hendricks wasn't sharp, but he wasn't bad as he pitched into the sixth before coming unglued. He would finish with seven earned runs in those five innings as his ERA sits above 12.00 in the early going. “Even three starts, every single one, have not been consistent, haven’t given us a chance to win," Hendricks said after the game. "It just cannot happen. The things I pride myself on, I'm so far from it right now.” Kyle Hendricks is not off to the start he or the Cubs were hoping for. Anytime you spot Dylan Cease seven runs, you are asking for trouble, as the hard-throwing right-hander was given plenty of support. He was far from perfect, but after allowing just two hits and a pair of unearned runs in six innings, Cease continues to show why trading for him was a great idea. When you look at the first two games of this series, it had been the Cubs pounding the Padres starters while the Padres pounded the Cubs bullpen. Entering their game on Wednesday, the Cubs outscored San Diego 13-0 innings 1-5, while the Padres outscored them 10-0 innings 6-9. What better way for San Diego to change the narrative by scoring first in this one. Unlike his previous outings, where hard contact did him in, Hendricks made the pitches he needed to make, but he was victimized by some soft contact. Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim picked up singles to put a pair of runners on with one out in the second. Luis Campusano kept the line moving with a third consecutive single to give the Padres the 1-0 lead before the Jackson Merrill groundout extended the San Diego lead to 2-0. Despite being unable to do much of anything through three innings, sometimes it becomes a case of capitalizing on a mistake that came in the fourth's top half. With two outs and the Cubs still searching for their first hit, Christopher Morel turned on a 100 MPH fastball and smoked it under the glove of Kim for what was ruled an error. That was the break the Cubs needed as Michael Busch followed that up with his second homer of the season to bring things back to even 2-2. Michael Busch with a game-tying blast! pic.twitter.com/9pgsPv0LB3 #Cubs Michael Busch goes yard for the second time this season. pic.twitter.com/1iL0DKROgF Those would be the final runs of the game for the Cubs, who managed two hits the rest of the way, one of which came from Mike Tauchman in the fifth. With the game now tied, Craig Counsell was hopeful that his veteran right-hander would do what he needed to get through six innings. However, it was the bottom of the fourth when things began to unravel as the Padres were the ones making extremely hard contact. A leadoff Manny Machado single was followed by a Profar double to put the Padres in front for good 3-2. Profar came around to score a few pitches later as the Kim triple doubled the Padres lead and had them threatening for more. The more came two innings later as Hendricks came out to pitch the sixth but quickly ran out of gas. Facing the Padres lineup for a third time, it was almost as if the Padres knew what pitch was coming as Jake Cronenworth led things off with his second homer of the series to make things 5-2. Another Machado hit followed that up, with Profar adding the second homer of the inning for San Diego and chasing Hendricks with the Cubs now trailing 7-2. That was the end of the line for the veteran soft-tosser, who was replaced by Daniel Palencia and finished off the inning without further damage. His second inning of work wasn't as successful as Palencia struggled to find the plate, putting himself in troublesome situations throughout. At some point, you knew that was going to hurt him, and with Cronenworth and Jose Azocar adding RBI singles, the Padres pushed their lead to 9-2 before taking on another run off Jose Cuas in the eighth to make things 10-2 before winning by that score. With just three hits, there wasn't much for the Cubs to get excited about. Busch led the way with one hit, two walks, and two RBIs. Dansby Swanson and Tauchman had the remaining two hits as the Cubs dropped their second road series in as many tries this season. Chicago will have an off day on Thursday before heading to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Mariners over the weekend. Tough start to the season for Kyle Hendricks. Per @ESPNStatsInfo: The 17 ER allowed this season are tied for the 2nd-most by a Cubs pitcher in their first 3 games of a season since earned runs became official in 1913. Gave up 7 tonight to the Padres. "Be consistent and give my team a chance to win every time out, and right now, it's just so far from that."
Kyle Hendricks following his outing in San Diego. pic.twitter.com/DvEpSRqlZ8
