Veteran Pitcher Was Biggest Disappointment for Chicago Cubs in 2024

Who was the biggest disappointment for the Chicago Cubs this season?

Sep 21, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks (28) delivers against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Wrigley Field. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

It has been a bit of a disappointing season for the Chicago Cubs in 2024, as despite being over .500, they never really had a realistic chance of making the playoffs this year. 

While it is hard to call the 2024 season a failure, it certainly wasn’t a resounding success for the Cubs. There were, of course, some bright spots and some bad spots, but this was a franchise that was hoping to make the playoffs this year. 

However, the offense for Chicago lacked pop and their bullpen was inconsistent at best. Easily the biggest bright spot of the season was the starting rotation, as the Cubs had four starters that had ERAs under 3.50. 

While a large majority of the starting rotation was excellent this year, Chicago did have one glaring hole in Kyle Hendricks. The veteran pitcher had an awful campaign, as he totaled a 4-12 record and 6.28 ERA.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN recently spoke about Hendricks being the biggest failure this season for the Cubs. 

“Biggest failure: Time comes for all athletes, and so it appears to have arrived for Kyle Hendricks. The last Cub from the 2016 championship team, Hendricks has had a fantastic career, and if this season is it, he has no reason to hang his head, though the Cubs could certainly have used some positive production from him in 2024. Still, let's just hope that if Hendricks is done, the way in which he's gotten hitters out over the past decade -- i.e., by skillful pitching -- doesn't go with him.”

After a strong 2023 season, it was a big drop-off for Hendricks, who is now 34 years old. With this being the final year of his contract, it is likely that Hendricks’ time in Chicago will be over. 

While Hendricks has had a great career for the Cubs, he was one of the worst starting pitchers in baseball this season, and that really hurt Chicago over the course of the season. While the rest of the rotation was excellent, most times the 34-year-old was on the mound, it resulted in a loss. 

As the Cubs head into next season, they know that they will have one of the best rotations in baseball, but adding a quality fifth starter will be important. Unfortunately for Hendricks, this could be his last season in the Majors after the dreadful season. If that ends up being the case, it was a very nice career.