Now on IL, Hendricks still set on finding his old form

Kyle Hendricks didn't want to use his back injury as an excuse for his slow start to the season.

Speaking at his locker before Wednesday's game against Houston, the Cubs veteran right-hander detailed the plan to get back on track.

“I'm not getting outs with my fastball right now, bottom line,” he said. “So that's really what I have to rely on and get back to. No matter how my fastball's playing, I have to get outs with it, to set up my other stuff.”

According to StatCast, opponents have built a .625 batting average against Hendricks' four-seam, with an average exit velocity of 100.5 mph. That's alarming.

The four-seam was his worst pitch last season, but as recently as 2019, opponents hit just .140 against it. Hendricks also talked about utilizing his full arsenal of pitches, which could mean adding more curveballs to his sinker, change, four-seam mix. He threw a cutter early in his Cubs career.

“I'm definitely having some predictable usage in there for sure,” Hendricks said. “I need to get back to being myself in those ways. Mixing in and out, changing speeds, manipulating my fastball a little bit.”

Hendricks went on the 15-day injured list Tuesday after posting a 12.00 ERA in his first five starts. His pitching style has always defied logic, with great success despite low velocity.

He’s planning to dig into data and video, compare it to past years. Hendricks thinks he'll be ready for a bullpen session as soon as the upcoming road trip.

“I just want to be here for this team by the end of the year,” he said. “We know where we want to go. We have the team to do it this year and I obviously just want to be a big part of that.

“I'm just going to be the best teammate I can be for these younger guys and hopefully I'll come back strong and be myself again.”