Kyle Hendricks Low Velocity Assassin Splooge Thread

[Quality Start Machine]

I would love to know what happened between 2015 "looked-like-he-was-constantly-touching-cloth" Hendricks who wasn't really kidding anybody and couldn't get through six innings, and post-2015 "ice-water-in-his-veins" Hendricks who never bats an eyelid and whose change will make you look like a cunt.  Because the change was dramatic.

He's my second-favourite Cub to watch.

Basically the Cubs convinced him he needed to throw his fastball and curveball more and stop relying on just his sinker and changeup, because the more he uses the fastball and curve to people expecting the sinker or the change the more he keeps them off balance. Once he figured out major league hitters can't crush an 87 mph fastball if they aren't expecting it and don't know where it's going to be, he had more confidence in all of his stuff. At least that's the gist of an article Sahadev wrote about him sometime early last year in The Athletic.

Not to mention, even though his fastball is fast in name only, it moves around enough for guys to think it's something else.

[Oleg]

I would love to know what happened between 2015 "looked-like-he-was-constantly-touching-cloth" Hendricks who wasn't really kidding anybody and couldn't get through six innings, and post-2015 "ice-water-in-his-veins" Hendricks who never bats an eyelid and whose change will make you look like a cunt.  Because the change was dramatic.

He's my second-favourite Cub to watch.

Basically the Cubs convinced him he needed to throw his fastball and curveball more and stop relying on just his sinker and changeup, because the more he uses the fastball and curve to people expecting the sinker or the change the more he keeps them off balance. Once he figured out major league hitters can't crush an 87 mph fastball if they aren't expecting it and don't know where it's going to be, he had more confidence in all of his stuff. At least that's the gist of an article Sahadev wrote about him sometime early last year in The Athletic.

Not to mention, even though his fastball is fast in name only, it moves around enough for guys to think it's something else.

So...what SKO said?

[Quality Start Machine]

I would love to know what happened between 2015 "looked-like-he-was-constantly-touching-cloth" Hendricks who wasn't really kidding anybody and couldn't get through six innings, and post-2015 "ice-water-in-his-veins" Hendricks who never bats an eyelid and whose change will make you look like a cunt.  Because the change was dramatic.

He's my second-favourite Cub to watch.

Basically the Cubs convinced him he needed to throw his fastball and curveball more and stop relying on just his sinker and changeup, because the more he uses the fastball and curve to people expecting the sinker or the change the more he keeps them off balance. Once he figured out major league hitters can't crush an 87 mph fastball if they aren't expecting it and don't know where it's going to be, he had more confidence in all of his stuff. At least that's the gist of an article Sahadev wrote about him sometime early last year in The Athletic.

Not to mention, even though his fastball is fast in name only, it moves around enough for guys to think it's something else.

So...what SKO said?

Except that he never mentioned movement. So yeah.

[SKO]

Dude was really good last night, and has been of late, and his ERA is stellar right now even though he's actually been really unlucky. His FIP is terrible at 5.33 but that's because he leads the league with 8 HR allowed. 4 of those were at Wrigley with the wind blowing out and Coors Field. Unless you think his incredibly unlucky 23.5% HR/FB is going to keep up he's really going to have a very good year again.

[SKO]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

[CT III]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

He's fulfilled our wildest dreams of being *looks back to the beginning of the thread* better than Randy Wells.

Jesus Christ are we all dumb.

[SKO]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

He's fulfilled our wildest dreams of being *looks back to the beginning of the thread* better than Randy Wells.

Jesus Christ are we all dumb.

All of us except *squints* Fork. Oh god.

[Quality Start Machine]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

He's fulfilled our wildest dreams of being *looks back to the beginning of the thread* better than Randy Wells.

Jesus Christ are we all dumb.

All of us except *squints* Fork. Oh god.

Please. Call me Frank Pops.

[Tonker]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

He's fulfilled our wildest dreams of being *looks back to the beginning of the thread* better than Randy Wells.

Jesus Christ are we all dumb.

All of us except *squints* Fork. Oh god.

Although he did, on the very same page, also express absolute confidence that Alcantara would be a solid major league hitter, so... you know...

[SKO]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

He's fulfilled our wildest dreams of being *looks back to the beginning of the thread* better than Randy Wells.

Jesus Christ are we all dumb.

All of us except *squints* Fork. Oh god.

Although he did, on the very same page, also express absolute confidence that Alcantara would be a solid major league hitter, so... you know...

I mean I think Nippon Professional Baseball is considered a major league over there

[Brownie]

Is Bryant as good as Troy Glaus?

[Yeti]

It's amazing how this dude has gone all of the way from "dude you watch with a clenched butt because you never know when one of those 86 mph floaters is gonna get crushed" to "guy so routinely excellent we don't even bump this thread for an utterly effortless 8 inning outing." He's the best.

He's fulfilled our wildest dreams of being *looks back to the beginning of the thread* better than Randy Wells.

Jesus Christ are we all dumb.

All of us except *squints* Fork. Oh god.

Although he did, on the very same page, also express absolute confidence that Alcantara would be a solid major league hitter, so... you know...

Fork is the prognostication king. Through enough grand proclamations out there you're bound to be right occasionally.

[Tonker]

I don't think it's too soon to start wondering whether Hendricks is broken somehow - indeed, I almost hope so because the alternative is that the league has figured him out.  My eyes tell me that he doesn't have the same stuff he used to have - that ridiculous change is actually hittable now.  Maybe his location just isn't as good - the pitches are the same but he's leaving them over the plate?

In any event, last night was the first time in over a month that he didn't give up a pretty resounding DONG (14 in 15 starts so far), and that was only because he left Rosario to do it for him.  I'm on record as saying that the Professor was my favourite Cub to watch, but at the moment, not so much.  Somebody reassure me.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

I don't think it's too soon to start wondering whether Hendricks is broken somehow - indeed, I almost hope so because the alternative is that the league has figured him out.  My eyes tell me that he doesn't have the same stuff he used to have - that ridiculous change is actually hittable now.  Maybe his location just isn't as good - the pitches are the same but he's leaving them over the plate?

In any event, last night was the first time in over a month that he didn't give up a pretty resounding DONG (14 in 15 starts so far), and that was only because he left Rosario to do it for him.  I'm on record as saying that the Professor was my favourite Cub to watch, but at the moment, not so much.  Somebody reassure me.

The only thing I can hang my cat on is that his big brain will somehow adapt and make the next move.

Sorry, Tonker—that's all I got.  Hopefully some statfaggot can find something more tangible point to reassure us.  Hold me.

[SKO]

His velocity is fine, better than it was at this point last year before he was DL'd and his fastball was dipping down to 84 sometimes. He's consistently 87-89, even touched 90 once in his last start.

As for his changeup if you believe Fangraphs pitch weights his changeup has been even better than last year.

There appear to be two issues: he's throwing his curveball more, which he talked about in spring as something he was working on, but his curveball appears to be very, uh, shitty, and his fastball has gone from a positive value pitch to a negative value pitch, almost entirely because he doesn't appear to be locating it as well as he normally does. That was obviously the issue last night when he just inexplicably lost command of it.

He's fine physically is my guess, his mechanics are a little out of whack. I never understand how to actually read the release point charts on here but what is obvious is that his release points are definitely not where they were especially during the second half last year. He's had stretches like this before and was actually worse in the first half last year than he's been this year. He's been better in the second of half of every season he's been a Cub.

He's gonna be fine. Stop being panicky dipshits. Do you ungrateful sacks of shit not remember what it looked like when Carlos Zambrano struggled?! If a 6th inning meltdown raising your ace's first half era+ to a mere 11% better than league average still is enough to cause panic in these parts I'd say you're just entitled babies.