Cubs are Going to Make Fans Get Annoyed at Kyle Hendricks

So, the Chicago Cubs are going to have a good problem here soon, but it is still a problem and it may end up with fans being indirectly annoyed at Kyle Hendricks.

The right-handed pitcher made his third rehab start with the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday night and it was by far the best he has looked in a very long time. This was as vintage Hendricks as it gets, as the veteran pitcher tossed five shutout innings and allowed just two hits, while striking out four and walking none. Out of the 61 pitches that Hendricks threw, 41 were for strikes.

Fantastic stuff from the professor.

Hendricks was out all spring training after he was shut down last July with a shoulder injury. The righty pitched in extended spring training and then returned to game action in late April with the Iowa Cubs.

I don't think many fans were worried about how Hendricks looked in his first couple of starts at Triple-A this year because, again, he had not pitched in a game since early July of 2022. What was good to see is that one, Hendricks was feeling fine after his outings, having no issues with his shoulder. Secondly, following his start on May 3, Hendricks threw a bullpen session in Chicago, where Cubs coaches were able to work on specific mechanical tweaks with Hendricks.

Tuesday's start followed and the Cubs certainly have to feel encouraged to see the results following their meeting last week. Hendricks is going to return to the starting rotation, but how exactly is that going to work?

Outside of injury of course, the rotation is set right now. Jameson Taillon is the only guy struggling at the moment, but he's coming back from the injured list and should be reliable moving forward. So, there is a scenario in which Hendricks returns and the Cubs decide rookie Hayden Wesneski either moves to the bullpen or maybe he gets sent down to Triple-A.

Yeah, that would be annoying.

As a reminder, teams can only carry 13 pitchers on their 26-man roster. Can't just hoard guys on a pitching staff anymore.

I would hate to see Wesneski ousted from the rotation because besides his blowup against the Seattle Mariners, the right-hander has been pretty damn good. Wesneski has given up a total of seven earned runs in his last 28.1 innings, which is a 2.22 ERA.

I know a six-man rotation isn't as easy to go into as we may think, but I'd rather have that instead of moving Wesneski to the bullpen, where he would probably take over Javier Assad's current role.

So yeah, it is a problem, a good one, but this starting pitching depth could end up with the Cubs deciding to send Wesneski down to the minors eventually. That being said, I am happy that Hendricks is healthy again and I do think he's earned the chance to get another run in the starting rotation.

We're probably a week away from Hendricks getting called up from Triple-A. His next scheduled start for the Iowa Cubs is on Sunday.