TEMPE, Ariz. — As Kyle Hendricks was enduring a miserable season at age 34, he thought his career might be over.
Those thoughts were not new.
“From the moment you get up (to the majors), man, anytime you struggle, those thoughts are gonna be in your head,” Hendricks said. “It’s the nature of the game. You’re gonna have those negative thoughts. It’s how you get past them.”
If the relatively small sample of the end of last season and this spring is any indication, Hendricks is providing solid proof that he’s not done yet.
Hendricks, who will make his final exhibition start Friday, has a 2.63 ERA through four Cactus League starts. He also had a 2.89 ERA in five September starts with the Chicago Cubs.
“I feel really good with where I’m at right now,” Hendricks said. “One, I feel really good mechanically. Two, is how the ball is coming out, the action of my pitches. Everything the catchers and the hitters are telling me is that everything is moving late. I’m tunneling everything. Getting late action. I’m getting some bad swings…
“I feel like I’m right where I need to be.”
Which is a welcome change from last season, when an otherwise outstanding career with the Cubs had gone off the rails.
Hendricks was a fixture in the Cubs’ rotation from when he broke into the majors in 2014. They called him “The Professor,” both as a nod to his Dartmouth education and for similarities to the way that he and Hall of Famer Greg Maddux could think their way through a lineup.
Hendricks was a key piece of the club that ended the Cubs’ 108-year World Series drought in 2016. He finished third for the Cy Young that season. From 2014-23, Hendricks had a 3.48 ERA over 247 games, surpassing 30 starts in five seasons.
But in 2024, Hendricks had a 6.95 ERA when the Cubs took him out of the rotation in late May.
That’s when his resolve was tested.
“Anytime you struggle, it’s very difficult, of course,” Hendricks said. “But I look back, man, there were so many positives to come out of it. All the support that I got from number one, my teammates. They were always behind me, teaching me, trying me to trying to get me better. You know, we’re all in it together. The coaching staff, I just can’t thank everybody enough that stuck with me, kept giving me opportunities, trying to figure out just what was going on.”
One problem was pitch-tipping, which Hendricks said he’s battled throughout his career. Also, he said personal issues impacted his mindset at the start of the season.
“In the beginning, I wasn’t locked in,” he said. “I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be. … Sometimes you have have a lot of stuff going on outside the field, just being a human being. I had a lot on my plate last year, a lot of things going on.”
By the end of the season, though, he was back on track. His strong September included 7⅓ shutout innings in his final start. He got a standing ovation from the Wrigley Field fans as he left the mound.
While Hendricks had clearly become a fan favorite in Chicago, he’ll now be pitching in his hometown. A product of Capistrano Valley High, Hendricks grew up as an Angels fan.
That’s part of the reason he’s happy with his new surroundings, including his new teammates.
“I am super excited,” Hendricks said. “Just so comfortable already. In this setting, these guys have been such a huge help, from the coaching staff making me feel comfortable from Day One. I feel like myself. It’s super exciting to be in that realm right now.”
His work on the mound this spring has reflected that.
“The stuff’s good,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “It’s really tricky because he lives on the edge and he really doesn’t miss. It’s fun to navigate from a game-calling side of things, because we have so many options and different ways to go about things, so I’m excited to see what it looks like during the year.”
Hendricks said earlier this spring that he’s been working on incorporating more curveballs. He threw the pitch just 13% of the time last year. He credited catcher Travis d’Arnaud for helping to bring that out of him.
As Hendricks is continuing to evolve, the Angels are counting on him to help their young pitchers do the same thing. The Angels placed Reid Detmers right next to Hendricks in the clubhouse.
“He’s been awesome,” Detmers said. “I pick his brain all the time. He’s probably getting a little annoyed with me. He’s been awesome. He’s willing to talk to you and answer any question you have. That’s huge. Especially for the young guys in the locker room who are willing to learn, he’s one of the best guys to learn from.”
If Hendricks can help someone like Detmers or Jack Kochanowicz take the next step toward being a capable big-league starter, the Angels will get a positive return from their $2.5 million investment even if Hendricks doesn’t win a single game.
General manager Perry Minasian said he got “rave reviews” on Hendricks when he was doing his due diligence before signing him.
Minasian has also been quick to remind people that they also believe Hendricks can still pitch, based on how he finished last season and how he pitched as recently as 2023. He had a 3.74 ERA in 2023.
“In the not too distant past, it was an outstanding year,” Minasian said. “We believe he can still be productive and he’ll bring a lot to the club. We’re excited to have him.”
BULLPEN PICTURE
Left-hander Angel Perdomo, who was acquired Monday, was in uniform Thursday, and scheduled to pitch in the game against the Chicago White Sox.
Manager Ron Washington said they hoped to see Perdomo a couple times before making a roster decision.
“I think we already got an assessment of what he is and who he is and what he can do,” Washington said. “We just need to see him do it.”
Perdomo, 30, is coming back from Tommy John surgery. He had a 3.72 ERA with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2023. He said through an interpreter that this spring he’s felt “great, tremendous” physically.
Perdomo is now part of a group that includes left-hander Garrett McDaniels (a Rule 5 pick), left-hander José Suarez, right-hander Ryan Johnson and whoever doesn’t get the No. 5 starter job, either the left-hander Detmers or the right-hander Kochanowicz. The Angels will keep three of those pitchers.
NOTES
Third baseman Yoán Moncada (bruised right thumb) continues to get better, but he still hasn’t hit or thrown. Washington said it’s just a matter of his pain tolerance. “If he says his pain tolerance is good and he can handle it, then we’ve got to trust him,” Washington said. …
Closer Kenley Jansen, who just returned from an absence because of his mother’s death, may not have the opportunity to pitch on back-to-back days in spring training, but Washington said he’ll still be fine to do that when the season starts. “He’s not some man we’re turning into a closer,” Washington said. “He’s been doing it his whole life.” …
A day after second baseman Tim Anderson made a nice play in the hole to start a double play, Washington had a telling comment about his defense. “That play he handled yesterday, turning that double play, is a routine major-league play,” Washington said. “It may look difficult when you see those young kids out there trying to do it, but he did give you a visual of what a routine major-league play looks like.”