Chicago Cubs Veteran Starting Pitcher Shares Major Praise for Fellow Rotation Member

A veteran Chicago Cubs pitcher had some kind words to share about one of his younger teammates.

Jul 31, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks (28) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs pitching rotation could look much different in 2025 than it has in recent years.

Starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks is the longest-tenured player on the team. He has been in the starting rotation since 2014, but his time with the franchise could be coming to an end this season.

For the first time in his career, he was demoted to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness. He made five outings out of the bullpen, the first time he has done that in the regular season since 2016. He did it once in the 2018 playoffs during the Wild Card against the Colorado Rockies as well.

Hendricks has struggled mightily this season, recording a 6.28 ERA over 28 appearances, 23 starts, across 123.1 innings. The final start of his career with the only franchise he has known could come Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.

While he doesn’t know what the future holds for himself, Hendricks is confident that the team is in good hands in the starting rotation.

On Tuesday night, he watched Justin Steele work four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, closing out what was another solid campaign. The veteran sees leadership qualities emerging, as he spoke very highly of his teammate.

“My confidence level could not be any higher,” Hendricks said, via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. “With Steeley -- what he's shown, who he is -- if he's healthy and he's out there, he's a top starter in the league. When he’s out there, he’s absolutely dominant. And just what he provides for the identity of a rotation -- he’s a bulldog.

“The competitive fierceness he takes out there every single game, that trickles down to everybody else. Having that at the top to look up to, it’s like what I had with Jon Lester as a young guy. That’s special. And you can’t quantify what that means for younger guys on the team.”

When Hendricks began his MLB career in 2014, the Cubs were loaded with veteran talent for him to lean on. Jon Lester, John Lackey and Jake Arrieta showed him what it took to be a Major Leaguer.

Now, he is gladly passing that wisdom down to Steele, who is in the prime of his career at 29 years old. Before too long, he will have a young teammate to take under his wing and continue the process with.

In 24 starts in 2024, Steele went 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA across 134.2 innings with 135 strikeouts. He proved that his All-Star campaign in 2023 when he finished fifth in the Cy Young Award voting, was no fluke despite some injury woes robbing him of a few starts this season.