Kyle Hendricks, a right-hander, was not scheduled to pitch in the Angels’ lone series against the Cubs this weekend. Unfortunately, Jose Soriano was placed on the paternity list this week, which caused Hendricks’ debut date to be pushed out to Sunday, when he plays against the team he spent 11 seasons with.
“It will definitely be enjoyable,” Hendricks said with a smile.
He will have two games to catch up with his old teammates and coaches on the field because of the scheduling. Prior to his bullpen session on Friday, he spoke with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and a small group of people.
“Identical man,” Hottovy said. “Happy Kyle is very focused on finishing his work and getting his work done in his bullpen today, but he still makes time to greet everyone.” Kyle is kind of normal.
For the first time in his big league career, Hendricks joined a new organization when he signed with the Angels in November.
Among his many accomplishments during his time with the Cubs were an 81-pitch shutout, the 2016 ERA title, and seven brilliant innings against the Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
During his final three seasons in Chicago, he experienced ups and downs, including a shoulder injury that ended his 2022 season.
Although Hendricks hasn’t quite returned to his former brilliance, he has managed to guide the Angels’ youthful pitching staff and carve himself a regular rotation place with a 4.93 ERA.
“I’m happy he was able to find a fit for him that would allow him to gain more experience while also demonstrating his ability to perform at a high level,” Hottovy said. “We’ve seen that from Kyle year after year, and I still believe he could pitch for another ten years if he so desired because he simply knows how to pitch, how to get weak contact, and how to work his way through a lineup.”
Roster moves
Right-hander Javier Assad was called up by the Cubs to start Friday’s game against the Angels. Due to a strained left groin, they correspondingly placed right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier on the 15-day disabled list.
Brasier stated that he was unable to determine whether the issue that sidelined him from the start of the Cubs’ domestic schedule until late May was a recurrence of the same injury that first appeared this spring.
He told the Sun-Times, “But it’s the same area and kind of the same feeling.” “I can feel it pitching, but I don’t feel it much outside of throwing and pitching.”
Recently, Brasier has been pitching despite the pain, but it started to interfere with his performance and delivery. He claimed that compared to his groin strain earlier in the year, the ailment was not as bad.
Manager Craig Counsell stated, “Try to give him a couple of weeks here and kind of get him back to a form we saw earlier in the season.”
Following a doubleheader earlier this week, the Cubs are temporarily carrying six starters on the roster as they reset the rotation.
Counsell declared, “We will not use a six-man rotation.” “But we’ll wait and see.”
