It's Time For Chicago Cubs To Move On From Kyle Hendricks

The Chicago Cubs World Series veteran was shelled once again, signaling a need to go in a different direction.

May 12, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks (28) / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs have just one member remaining from their World Series team, and it looks like it's time to move in a different direction.

Kyle Hendricks was shelled once again on Friday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates and was met with boos from the Cubs fans in attendance.

In 4.2 innings of work, Hendricks gave up seven earned runs (eight total) on 11 hits. This is a Pirates offense that ranks in the bottom-five of the league in OPS and bottom-10 in runs scored.

Unfortunately for the 34-year-old, this has become more of the norm than the exception in 2024.

Heading into his recent injury, fans were already fed up with his poor performance and called for him to at least be moved into the bullpen.

Chicago gave him another chance to start after he got healthy and he actually pitched fine. It wasn't dominant stuff, four walks in five innings of work, but he only gave up one run and two hits.

After today's struggles, it might be time to finally call it.

Of all pitchers to start games for the Cubs, Hendricks was already dead last in ERA by a large margin. He's also now given up 50 hits, which is 14 more than the second-place pitcher Shota Imanaga. Hendricks also has 20 less innings pitched than Imanaga.

Chicago utilized Hayden Wesneski as a starter when Hendricks was down with injury and that could be an option again. Likely though, if Hendricks were to lose his role as a starter, they'd look to the trade market.

They previously moved struggling stater Drew Smyly into the bullpen and saw a good bit of success.

That should be their first option with Hendricks rather than an outright release. It's unlikely that a team would trade for him or that either party would want that.