Nearly a month and a half ago Cubs manager Joe Maddon first broached the topic of Kyle Hendricks being a Cy Young contender. A lot can change from mid-July to the end of August. And it has. Hendricks has gone from dark horse candidate to the league leader in ERA in a very unusual fashion.
On Tuesday night, Hendricks, as he has all season, sat at 87-89 mph with his fastball and struck out just four batters, but he walked only one and gave up just three hits in his seven shutout innings, helping the Cubs defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0.