Kyle Hendricks has lengthy been lauded as a cerebral pitcher, and for good cause. Nicknamed “The Professor,” the 34-year-old Chicago Cubs right-hander not solely has an economics diploma from Dartmouth Faculty, he depends way more on guile than fuel. The antithesis of your prototypical energy arm, Hendricks subsists with a heater that sits within the second percentile for velocity. Furthermore, he’s no spin monster when it comes to breaking stuff. As he’ll readily admit, his four-pitch arsenal is sans a plus breaking ball.
His 2024 season is off to a gradual begin. Over 5 turbulent outings, Hendricks has surrendered 37 hits, together with a league-worst eight round-trippers, seven walks and 28 runs throughout simply 21 innings. Changes are so as, however that’s nothing new for the righty. A capability to regulate accordingly has gone a great distance towards his profession ledger, which coming into this yr included an 84 ERA- and a 3.80 FIP, in addition to stingy stroll and residential run charges. When push involves shove, Hendricks has confirmed greater than able to outsmarting huge league hitters.
Hendricks mentioned his evolution as a pitcher and his general M.O. on the mound throughout spring coaching.
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David Laurila: How have analytics impacted your evolution as a pitcher?
Kyle Hendricks: “Analytics have modified loads all through my profession, and I’ve needed to study loads about them. I nonetheless don’t know an entire lot, to be trustworthy with you. We now have such help group behind me on the pitching aspect, and I rely closely on them. I’ll undergo all my work, throw my bullpens, etcetera, and so they’re breaking down all the information, what all the pieces seems to be like. So, essentially the most it’s in all probability helped me with is consistency — consistency of pitch shapes, and motion on my pitches.
“From there, I’ve all the time been a man looking for a greater curveball and how you can spin a ball higher. It positively can assist, simply trying on the form of my curveball, the spin general, the spin effectivity. Issues like that. These have helped me put visible to what I’m looking for in a breaking ball.”
Laurila: It’s attention-grabbing to listen to you say that you simply don’t know loads. Zack Wheeler not too long ago advised me that [Phillies pitching coach] Caleb Cotham was his pitching nerd.
Hendricks: “I really like that. It’s type of the identical for me. I don’t know if it’s from how I got here up, however my pitching philosophy is to attempt to preserve my psychological state so simple as potential. I’m not a stuff man. I’m command primarily based. I’m commanding the baseball, attempting to maintain the ball on the underside of the zone, transfer it out and in, up and down, and altering speeds backwards and forwards. All through that entire course of, I’m attempting to learn swings, seeing what guys try to do towards me. So, in recreation, it’s all pitching centered. Exterior the sport, like I stated, I’m counting on the workers behind me. They current me the data. I couldn’t inform you what my horizontal or vertical actions are.
“I truthfully don’t know my metrics. However I do know once they get off my regular, or in the event that they get inconsistent, and what I’ve to convey them again to. That’s largely from really feel and sight, and from the way it’s popping out of my hand. And on the finish of the day, the hitters inform me all the pieces I have to know. How they’re taking a swing at one thing — a foul swing, swing, making good contact, making dangerous contact — that’s telling me all the pieces I have to know in regards to the pitches I’m throwing.
“If I’m making dangerous pitches and getting hit, more often than not it simply seems to be flat. There’s not a lot depth or late motion. It’s perhaps shifting early — it’s shifting all the way in which to the plate — as an alternative of monitoring on lane after which shifting late. These are stuff you see from throwing time and again and over. You’ll see how the catcher catches a sure ball. You’ve seen so many pitches popping out of your hand that you simply see the appropriate motion when it’s proper, and the fallacious motion when it’s fallacious.”
Laurila: Having pitches squared up clearly isn’t so simple as getting the fallacious motion. There’s location. There’s sequencing. You could be tipping…
Hendricks: “True. There are such a lot of issues that go into it. And yeah, tipping is a large one. Loads of guys do it. Sequencing is one other huge one. Having the ability to break down precisely what went fallacious, and when, is trustworthy self-evaluation. That’s one of many hardest issues to do in our recreation. We’re all the time looking for that — the trustworthy self-evaluation of what precisely was carried out proper and carried out fallacious. On the finish of the day, these are all items to a puzzle. You utilize all of them in conjunction and attempt to paint this entire image of what your recreation is.”
Laurila: Has the way in which you sequence developed?
Hendricks: “Positively. It evolves primarily based on the hitters, regardless of the hitters are telling me. After I first got here up, I used to be very cussed on the backside of the zone, as a result of I’m a sinker-changeup type of man who doesn’t have loads of velocity. After my first or second yr, I began throwing up within the zone extra, and throwing inside extra. That opened up a lot extra for my recreation. So yeah, it’s frequently evolving. Everyday, yr to yr… I imply in the event you face a workforce for a second time in a season, issues are going change in that approach. However actually, I attempt to use the aggressiveness of a hitter towards him, in addition to the basics of pitching. In my thoughts, that’s getting strike one, staying forward of men, and preserving the pitch depend down.”
Laurila: What have you ever discovered about how sure pitches of yours play greatest?
Hendricks: “Not an excessive amount of, though after I first got here up, I threw my changeup to at least one aspect of the plate. I’ve discovered that it could play in numerous components of the zone. I can throw it in to a righty. I can throw it outdoors. Transferring it round on the plate is one thing I’d by no means carried out, and you’ll pigeonhole your self in the event you’re solely throwing one thing to at least one aspect. That’s all the time been my greatest pitch, and studying how and when to make use of it — that my changeup performs in sure conditions — was big for me.”
Laurila: When did you begin throwing a changeup?
Hendricks: “Popping out of highschool, I didn’t have a changeup. As soon as I acquired into school I began creating one — and particularly as soon as I acquired to the minor leagues. I turned that sinker-changeup kind of man, and once more, looking for that spin.”
Laurila: Are you able to elaborate on chasing extra spin?
Hendricks: “I’m actually good at two-seam/changeup, pronating the ball to go that approach. Just a few pitchers are actually good at each pronating and supinating. It’s a type of issues the place I’m all the time looking for alternative ways to be extra constant spinning it higher, spinning it tighter in order that it seems to be like my fastball and changeup popping out of my hand, that’s it’s not coming out to the place the hitter can see that. All the pieces has to look the identical. That’s been an actual focus of mine with the curveball, for positive.”
Laurila: For a full decade or extra…
Hendricks: “Precisely. Perpetually. It’s a usable pitch, I’m simply all the time looking for how I could make it much more usable. On the finish of the day, it’s all the time about utilizing it to make my fastball and my changeup higher.”
Laurila: Have you ever tried spiking your curveball?
Hendricks: “I’ve tried altering grips, sure. One factor I do is throw it with a spiked grip after I’m enjoying catch. I’m not getting in a pitching movement essentially, however only a unfastened arm and getting it out entrance to spin it. I do that just about each day, to a level. However as soon as I get on the mound… I imply, I’ve messed round between a four-seam, a two-seam, and now I’m type of midway up on the horseshoe.
“I’m not spiking it on the mound, although. It appears like I don’t have a ok grip on it. Enjoying catch with it teaches me to spin the baseball with my center finger, however as soon as I get on the mound my index finger is principally simply laying on the ball. That feels extra comfy for me.”
Laurila: You throw a four-seam in addition to a two-seam. Is {that a} pitch you’ve tweaked through the years, perhaps seeking to get slightly extra carry?
Hendricks: “Sure. My first two years within the huge leagues, I really threw slightly cutter. I began throwing it virtually an excessive amount of. My velocity, which I didn’t have a lot of to lose within the first place, actually began to dip. I additionally wasn’t in a position to keep behind the baseball as a lot and get a real four-seam spin after I was slicing the baseball. I deserted that and acquired again to my throwing program, actually staying behind the baseball, four-seam spinning it, staying true.
“That translated to the sport, and now my four-seam principally all the time cuts slightly. I attempt to keep by it — keep true and thru my lane — however I believe due to the cutter, and perhaps due to my mechanics, it has this little minimize to it. Prior to now, I attempted to eliminate that, whereas now I simply belief it. I do know that’s simply how my four-seam is — and I do know that it performs. It will get slightly little bit of motion, which will get it off the barrel slightly bit.”
Laurila: You’re four-seam, two-seam, changeup, curveball. Have you ever ever thrown a slider?
Hendricks: “I type of did after I first began in professional ball. I used to be drafted out of faculty, went to short-season, and was within the bullpen, solely throwing one or two innings at a time. I labored on slightly slider then. Actually, in short-season you possibly can throw a breaking ball within the dust with two strikes, and almost certainly you have been going to get a swing from loads of guys. So, it was considerably efficient, however like I stated, I’ve by no means been in a position to spin a ball nice. I knew that as I went as much as the upper ranges it wasn’t going to be a usable pitch. That’s type of the place I began to make use of my changeup off of my fastball, and use the curveball as my spin, as greatest that I can.”
Laurila: How have you ever balanced evolving a pitcher with staying what’s labored for you through the years?
Hendricks: “That’s an excellent query. It’s a troublesome steadiness. I’d that say a few of it depends upon the quantity of success you’ve had, clearly. If one thing has labored, that’s what you’re going to proceed to observe till it doesn’t work. Once you begin having dangerous outcomes — when issues aren’t understanding — then it’s a must to pivot. For essentially the most half, I’ve stayed true to who I’m. On the similar time, the variety of little changes I’ve needed to make have saved me within the recreation for so long as it’s been right here, You received’t keep within the recreation in the event you simply carry on doing the very same issues time and again. Reacting to what hitters are doing to me, altering my sequencing, altering my aggressiveness, or my first-pitch utilization — it might come right down to something, On the finish of the day, being unpredictable is large for me.”
Laurila: How for much longer are you hoping to play?
Hendricks: “So long as I can. I really like baseball a lot, and as quickly as you’re out of the sport, you’re out. It’s over. So, hopefully it’s years. I strive to not put a timeline on it — I simply attempt to take it in the future at a time — however I actually need to play for so long as I can. I really like pitching.”