Hendricks exits with shoulder soreness: 'Super frustrating' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Kyle Hendricks exited the Cubs' win over the Brewers Tuesday after three innings with right shoulder soreness.
Hendricks said the issue is similar to what he dealt with last month. He went 13 days between starts due to a prescribed break to treat shoulder fatigue.
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Tuesday was the first time the issue has come up since then, he said.
“It’s super frustrating. Feeling really good coming into this [outing],” Hendricks said. “Doing everything good, my volume has been down. I just don’t know where it came from.”
Hendricks said his level of concern is “not super high,” but wasn't sure if he would miss his next start. He’ll undergo an MRI in the coming days and go from there.
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It would be tough news for the Cubs rotation, which currently has Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly and Wade Miley on the injured list — though Stroman and Smyly appear close to returning.
Tuesday was Hendricks' fifth start since that prescribed break, and he said he felt normal during pregame warmups.
The issue didn’t pop up until his first warmup pitch in the first inning. He felt it from then out and was able to pitch through it before manager David Ross pulled him after three innings and 69 pitches.
“It’s one of those things where you can grind through it,” Hendricks said. “It’s really uncomfortable, but you can just keep going. It’s not going to blow up on you or anything.
“I told [Ross] that. I was like, ‘You know, it’s been a lot worse. Nothing terrible, I can give you as much as you want here.’ But he made the determination, obviously, probably for the best."
Hendricks’ sinker velocity Tuesday (85.7 mph) was down compared to his season average (86.5) and touched as low as 83.8 mph.
He allowed a two-run home run to Rowdy Tellez in a 29-pitch first inning and labored in the second, prompting a mound visit from Ross.
“I just wanted some honesty,” Ross said. “I try to cut out the middleman sometimes. It makes it a little easier to look somebody in the eye, hear their words, hear the tone of their voice.
“I felt pretty confident. He's very honest with me, we have that kind of relationship. I trusted in that, and he got us through the third.”
Hendricks retired the Brewers 1-2-3 in the third inning before Matt Swarmer took over in the fourth.
Swarmer, Rowan Wick and Michael Rucker each threw two innings as the Cubs went on to win 8-3.
Hendricks has had an up-and-down season but was coming off a pair of good starts. He threw 7 1/3 shutout innings against the Cardinals June 24 and allowed two runs in six innings Thursday vs. the Reds.
"I want to be out there every fifth day," Hendricks said. "That’s what I get paid to do, obviously, and just to be here for this team and be the best I can be.
"I'm starting to feel good, getting some consistency, so that's really frustrating on that end.
"I just got to take a step back here and see what we got and go from there."
Contributing from Milwaukee: Gordon Wittenmyer
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