Chicago Cubs Star ‘Not Ready’ To Say Goodbye

A Chicago Cubs veteran is planning on playing next year and is not ready to leave yet.

Sep 15, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks (28) pitches in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have had a reliable, good starter in Kyle Hendricks since 2014. The Professor has had the worst season of his career in 2024, but he isn't done yet. Not only is he not done yet, he wants to stay in Chicago.

At 34-years-old, Hendricks is not what he used to be, but he is still a Cubs legend. One of the aces on the World Series winning team staff, he finished third in the NL Cy Young race in 2016 with a 2.13 ERA.

It wasn't just that season, though. Despite him being somwhat of a throwback in terms of velocity of pitching style in this era, he has always been fantastic. Hendricks sits 20th in franchise history in bWAR (22.3), 22nd in wins (97), seventh in strikeouts (1,257). He is an all-time Cubs pitcher.

His 2024 season has been rough going, though. He was pulled from the rotation for a while, but in his 123.1 innings, his ERA sits at 6.28 with a 4-12 record and a -1.8 bWAR.

Amid his struggles and his fastball velocity sitting around 87 mph, there were questions of whether or not he would be back next season. He is a free agent after the year, but he made it abundantly clear that he isn't ready to leave Chicago.

"I'm not ready to say goodbye to Chicago, for sure, so with everything up in the air, I'm just soaking in all of these moments, you know, as I normally would. When that comes, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess," he told Marquee Sports.

Drafted out of Dartmouth in the eighth round of the 2011 draft by the Texas Rangers, Hendricks was traded to the Cubs in the Ryan Dempster deal and has spent nearly all of his career in the Chicago organization.

In many ways, he will go down in Cubs history. However, after a year of disappointments under Craig Counsell, with Hendricks being a big part of that, there may be some big changes coming on the North Side.

While no reports of what will happen with the right-hander have trickled out as of late, it will be something to keep an eye on going forward. Will a legend stay, or not?