Kyle Hendricks may not show emotion on the mound, but smiles come easily when he's not between the foul lines.
Especially when he's talking about his walk-up song.
The always-self-aware Hendricks understands the running joke about his expressionless demeanor and comes out to Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" when pitching or hitting at Wrigley Field.
He'll use the same song again in 2018.
"No reason to change it now," he said, smirking. "Gotta give the people what they want."
Walk-up songs have become a huge deal at the corner of Clark and Addison in recent years.
Back before the video boards were installed in the 2015 season, players didn't have the luxury of choosing their own music and injecting some of their personality into the middle of the game experience at Wrigley Field.
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2018 will be the fourth year in which players have walk-up songs, meaning it's the only life players like Kris Bryant and Addison Russell have ever known at the corner of Clark and Addison.
"It's just something that I like to hear whenever I'm walking up to the plate," Russell said. "It gets me goin'. You're able to express yourself a little bit in your music choice and what you like to put out there for everyone to hear.
"It's definitely a fun process for selecting the song that you want out there."
Music and dancing are everywhere around Wrigley Field, from bullpen dancing after home runs to the Seventh Inning Stretch to organist Gary Pressy to the walk-up songs that are now a staple at "The Friendly Confines."
Walk-up songs are also a great way for players to endear themselves to fans, like Hendricks having fun with "Sweet Emotion" or Anthony Rizzo playing Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez/Kygo ("It ain't me") last year.
David Ross — aka "Grandpa Rossy" — used "Forever Young" as his walk-up song when he played and now Cubs fans associate the Alphaville track with him.
Starlin Castro's walk-up song at Wrigley became an entire chill-inducing experience with 42,000 people clapping and stomping along with the rhythm of "Ando En La Versace":
Ben Zobrist uses the opportunity to promote his wife's music, using Julianna Zobrist's rendition of "Benny and the Jets" the last couple years. Julianna is signing the National Anthem before Sunday's game and her husband acknowledged he would be using more of her music as his walk-up songs in 2018...though may throw a curveball in there, too.
Rizzo changes it up every at-bat. Kyle Schwarber may do the same thing this year, though he said he plans on sticking with "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" as one of the songs.
The Cubs slugger has used the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony song as part of his lineup since making his big-league debut in 2015, honoring the hip hop group that hails from his home state of Ohio. The funny part about the song, however, is it was released in 1994, the year after Schwarber was born.
Russell may mix it up, too, using different songs for different at-bats or rotation through a cycle over the course of the season.
"It's a song that I like, a song I can relate to, something that gets me going," Russell said. "I think I'm gonna have a few this year. I think I might repeat one, but at a different point in the song.
"For the most part, it's just all about what I dig, what's kinda hot at the time. Just something to get me pumped up as I get into the box."
The song choice can be a strong motivational factor for each player. Music can trigger a bunch of different emotions and thoughts for different people and thus a walk-up song can serve as a mental trigger for professional athletes.
A well-selected song can also inject feelings of relaxation and mental clarity into the situation, as is the case with veteran reliever Steve Cishek, who's about to make his Cubs Wrigley Field debut this week.
"I always choose a song that fires me up and that I've listened to that gets my blood pumping a bit," Cishek said. "This year, I kinda went a different route because I know I'm gonna be fired up going into Wrigley.
"I tried to pick a little bit of a slower song to calm down a little. Who knows? I might change it through the season if I need some extra jice. But whatever gets the adrenaline pumping. Some songs just tend to do that for me."
Some players don't really give it much thought ahead of time, like reliever Justin Wilson, who hadn't yet decided on a walk-up/out song after the first week of play.
Newcomer Tyler Chatwood will be the first Cub of the 2018 season to have his walk-up/out song played at Wrigley Field when he takes the ball to start the first inning of the home opener Monday (weather permitting).
As each Cubs player's walk-up song is played throughout the homestand, we'll keep a running list:
Albert Almora Jr. — “Greenlight” by Pitbull, Flo Rida & LunchMoney Lewis
Javier Baez — "Chambea" by Bad Bunny
Kris Bryant — "Warm it Up" by Kris Kross*
Eddie Butler — "Dirt on my Boots" by Jon Pardi
Victor Caratini — "Escapate Commingo" by Wisin
Tyler Chatwood — "Rollin" by Calvin Harris, Future & Khalid
Steve Cishek — "Song of Deliverance" by Zach Williams
Willson Contreras — "Dura" by Daddy Yankee
Yu Darvish — "Crank That" by Soulja Boy
Brian Duensing — "Mutt" by Blink 182*
Carl Edwards Jr. — "What you Know" by T.I.
Ian Happ — "Welcome Back" by Mase
Kyle Hendricks — "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith
Jason Heyward — "This Girl" by Kungs vs Cookin’ on 3 Burners*
Tommy La Stella — "Bridges and Tunnels" by Chris Rusu
Jon Lester — "Gonna Know We Were Here" by Jason Aldean* and "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" by Jake Owen*
Mike Montgomery — "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco*
Brandon Morrow — "Whatever it takes" by Imagine Dragons
Jose Quintana —
Anthony Rizzo — "Intoxicated" by Martin Solveig & GTA* and "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift*
Addison Russell — "Lemon" by Rihanna/N.E.R.D.
Kyle Schwarber — "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" by Bone Thugs n Harmony*
Pedro Strop — "Rasputin" by El Alfa El Jefe ft. Liro Shaq
Justin Wilson — "Sucker for Pain" by Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa & Imagine Dragons
Ben Zobrist — "Benny and the Jets" + "Alive" by his wife, Julianna*
*indicates same song as 2017 season