Kyle Hendricks is calling it a career.
The longtime Chicago Cubs pitcher is retiring Monday after 12 years in Major League Baseball, according to the Chicago Sun Times’ Maddie Lee. Hendricks spent all but one of his dozen years in the league with the Cubs, playing last summer with the Los Angeles Angels.
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Hendricks made his MLB debut in 2014, three years after he was first selected in the 2011 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers. He made 13 starts as a rookie and held a 2.46 ERA that season while quickly becoming a mainstay in the Cubs’ rotation.
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His best season came in 2016, the same year the Cubs beat the Cleveland Guardians in the World Series to snap a title drought that had lasted more than a century. Hendricks held a 2.13 ERA that year, the best in the big leagues while compiling a 16-8 record in 30 starts. He started Game 7 of the World Series that fall, too, which the Cubs eventually won in extra innings.
Hendricks held the Cincinnati Reds to just two hits in more than seven innings in his last start with the Cubs in 2024, which drew a massive reaction from the fans at Wrigley Field in what was his last game with the franchise.
“I hate all that attention, but in the end, I know I have to soak in these moments,” Hendricks said after that game, via the Sun Times. “And that’s what the Wrigley fans are there for. They’re so special. They’re the best in the world. To play here in Wrigley Field, I’m just such a lucky guy.”
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Hendricks left for the Angels last offseason for what would prove to be one final season. He posted a 4.76 ERA and an 8-10 record in Anaheim. The Angels went just 72-90 and missed the playoffs for an 11th straight year. In total, Hendricks finished his career with a 105-91 record and a 3.79 ERA in 301 starts. According to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, Hendricks has no plans currently to get into a coaching or front office role with the Cubs or elsewhere in the league.
The Cubs went 92-70 last season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They were eliminated in the divisional round by the Milwaukee Brewers.
