Chicago Cubs Craig Counsell Puts Veteran Pitcher On Notice

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell is relatively pleased with his team’s start in 2024. They are 26-22 on the season, only two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central.

However, some Chicago Cubs fans have to be wondering if they could be in the driver’s seat had they received better production from some of their key veteran players. One who has fallen woefully short of expectations is starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks.

The longest-tenured starting pitcher on the team, Hendricks has been a disaster in 2024. He has made seven starts and been hit hard in every one of them. On the season, he carries a ghastly 10.57 ERA, which has led to Craig Counsell putting him on notice.

“We certainly need better,” Counsell said after Hendricks’ start, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. “That’s not going to work. And that’s not going to be good enough.”

Patience seems to be running thin in Chicago. Hendricks has been a productive pitcher in his career, carrying a good ERA of 3.63. But, as someone who relies heavily on pinpoint control to make up for his lack of velocity, Hendricks isn’t getting the job done.

Playing on a $16.5 million club option this season, following a four-year, $55.5 extension signed in 2019, some changes could be made. Had the Chicago Cubs had other options to turn to, he may have lost his spot in the starting rotation by this point.

“We got to look at the start a little closer and see what’s going on,” Counsell added, per Mooney. “We’re in a tough stretch right now. We’ve got eight pitchers on the injured list. We’ve got to keep doing our best to help Kyle turn the corner. I think that’s going to be really important here. In the stretch we’re in, we’re going to need innings.”

The team will do what they can to help him get on track, but his role may no longer be as a starting pitcher. There currently isn’t a starting pitcher named for the game after Javier Assad and Justin Steele. That would normally be Hendricks’ spot, hinting at a change for Craig Counsell.

“This has all the makings of an abrupt end to Hendricks’ Cubs career, similar to what we saw with Jake Arrieta a few years ago,” Jake Misener noted for Cubbies Crib. “Chicago has given him as long a leash as possible, but with no major improvements seen, it’s hard to envision him playing a role on his team deep into the summer.”