But critically: “Hendo?” Come on, man. A “Hendo” spits streams of tobacco juice like a human fireplace hose. A “Hendo” stands on the sector in entrance of a crowd of 40,000 and adjusts his protecting cup like no one’s watching. A “Hendo” leads together with his instincts, wears a minimal of 10 days’ scruff on his face and has the serene composure of a rabid badger.
That’s the nickname Cubs beginning pitcher Kyle Hendricks chooses to put on throughout the again of his jersey throughout baseball’s annual Players’ Weekend? Is one thing flawed with “the Professor” — merely one of the excellent monikers in all the main leagues?
Well, yeah. Hendricks, 29, a Dartmouth graduate (in economics modified by math) who thinks the sport on a preternatural stage and performs it seemingly and not using a pulse, considers “Professor” a bit too obtrusive when adorning a uniform. Cubs celebrity infielder Javy Baez has no drawback going with “El Mago,” which implies “the Magician.” Catcher Willson Contreras is A-OK sporting “Willy the Beast.” Hendricks is extra comfy taking a cross on such showiness.
“Just having it on my back and my jersey while I’m in a big-league game facing the best in the world, it just seems a little pretentious,” he stated a bit of over per week after reporting to the Cubs’ spring coaching facility in Mesa, Arizona. “I love the nickname. It’s very humbling that people gave me that, and I understand why it fits in a lot of ways, but for me to take it myself and go on the field with it? That’s a different thing.”
Kyle Hendricks #28 of the Chicago Cubs pitches towards the St. Louis Cardinals in the course of the first inning at Wrigley Field on July 19, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
He catches his share of playful grief within the Cubs’ clubhouse for the choice, from no yet one more so than bullpen catcher Chad Noble. No one within the group goes again longer with Hendricks than Noble, whom Hendricks describes precisely as a “wild, nuts, crazy” type of man. Noble calls Hendricks “a Dartmouth guy, and I’m saying that negatively.” But what the pair talk about most of all because the right-hander warms up earlier than video games is — what else? — hitting. Specifically, they talk about how dangerous Hendricks, a profession .091 hitter with a not-so-meaty slugging share of .103, is at it.
Noble — and all of the Cubs, with the potential exception of Hendricks — are pretty dying to see the California native belt his first house run. Or at the least loft one right into a blustery wind and get luckier than a thin turkey at Thanksgiving because it carries into the basket at Wrigley Field.
“If a homer happens this year, it happens,” Hendricks stated. “But, God, I’m waiting for someone to not throw 95 [mph]. I can’t even get around on 90. I would love to have some more hits. I’ve got to get on base first.”
It would possibly take an extended ball to crack the stoic countenance of a person who has pitched unflappably within the highest-stakes video games, gliding between mound and dugout after half-innings, seemingly with out drawing a troubled breath. Will we ever see Hendricks lose his cool?
“I probably couldn’t stay calm if I hit a home run,” he stated. “If there’s one thing I’m going to show emotion on, it has to be that. Maybe not running around the bases, but by the time I got back to the dugout? I guarantee I couldn’t help myself. The guys would just roast me. They’d be going crazy, getting loud. I wouldn’t even know what was going on. I’d be so lost.”
Mostly, although, the remainder of the Cubs merely proceed to marvel at what teammate and shut pal Mike Montgomery calls Hendricks’ “nerves of steel” on the mound. Staff ace Jon Lester likens him to an impassive chess participant, all the time a transfer or two forward of the competitors. Hendricks’ present for showing completely unruffled within the eye of a storm was evident because the Cubs churned to the World Series title in 2016 and continues to be what distinguishes him —…