Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks won’t be ready for the start of the season, but he’s taking the next step in his recovery from a shoulder ailment that cut his 2022 campaign short.
Hendricks, who missed the last three months of the season after suffering a capsular tear in his throwing shoulder, says he will throw a “touch-and-feel” bullpen session next week in Mesa, part of a throwing program designed to get him back into action by late spring.
He says that the slow pace of his recovery program is putting him behind his usual schedule, but says that it’s all part of the plan.
“I’m not going to rush this next step,” he said. “I normally start throwing bullpens sometime in January, and I’m gonna start touching the mound next week.”
Hendricks is in the final year of a contract he signed with the Cubs prior to the 2019 season. The deal does come with a club option for next season, but his focus has been recovering on the shoulder injury that cost him a large chunk of last season.
“It was tough in the very beginning without knowing what’s going on,” he said. “Once you know what’s going on, and you have the path in front of you, then you just attack each day as it comes. It’s been long, but I’m really looking forward to getting back out there.”
Hendricks told reporters in Arizona that he expects to throw at least three or four “touch-and-feel” sessions before throwing a full bullpen session.
MLB
He said that the Cubs’ extensive depth at starting pitcher is helping him focus on his recovery rather than rushing back, and that he’s looking forward to joining the team in what he hopes will be a playoff push.
Hendricks has struggled at times in each of the last two seasons, with a 4-6 record and a 4.80 ERA before he was shut down in early July. In 223 career starts with the Cubs, Hendricks has an 87-61 record and a 3.46 ERA, finishing in the top-10 of Cy Young voting twice.