The Chicago Cubs hoped this season would have looked more like 2016.
The team has been all but eliminated from the playoffs for the fourth straight time, eight years since they ended their century-long World Series championship drought.
They would have liked to see a similar postseason run this year. And they also could have hoped for more from pitcher Kyle Hendricks, the only player remaining from that championship roster.
Hendricks has a 6.25 ERA across 22 starts this year, a far cry from the 2016 season when he maintained Major League Baseball’s best ERA at 2.13 and earned votes for the National League’s Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award.
After the Cubs picked up his $16.5 million club option for 2024, he now faces free agency and told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney that he plans to pitch again in 2025.
“Kyle Hendricks ‘100 percent’ intends to play next year, the Chicago Cubs pitcher told The Athletic, confirming he plans to explore his options as a free agent for the first time,” Mooney reported. “Hendricks, the only player remaining from the 2016 World Series team, wants to prolong a career that has already exceeded the wildest expectations.”
In 11 seasons with the Cubs, Hendricks has a career ERA of 3.69 with 1,255 strikeouts across 1,567.2 innings. It’s hard to say what kind of deal the 34-year-old might find in free agency, but he did flash the ability to contribute, even in a down season.
“Hendricks … made significant in-season adjustments and demonstrated that he can still be an effective No. 5 starter,” Mooney noted. “At a time when the baseball industry views pitching injuries as an epidemic, there’s value in someone who has shown the skills and the durability to throw almost 1,600 major-league innings. He’s also widely regarded as an exemplary teammate and a great resource for young pitchers who want to know how he does it with an 87.7 mph fastball.”
It’s hard to say what kind of interest Hendricks might draw as a first-time free agent. But if he takes the mound for a new team in 2025, it will mark a truly definitive end to the latest championship era for the Cubs.
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