That Rookie Is Really Impressive!

Javier Baez hit two more home runs yesterday, drove in four runs, and his average is up to .286.

But the rookie that really impressed me was yesterday's starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks.  Making his fifth career start, he went eight innings and allowed just two runs on six hits.  He struck out four, with two of the four coming in the eighth inning.

This start comes on the heels of an impressive win against a much stronger Dodger team last Friday.  In Los Angeles, he pitched into the seventh inning, giving up just one run and seven hits.

For the season he is now 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA. and he has pitched well in each of his five starts.  I'm really liking what I see from him.

Hendricks is a 24-year-old Dartmouth graduate who came to the Cubs in the 2012 Ryan Dempster trade.  He's had impressive numbers in the minor leagues and it looks like he'll continue that in the bigs.

Despite putting up a 13-4 record last year between AA and AAA along with a 10-5 record in Iowa this year he has really flown under the radar.  All of the attention has been on the big bats coming up, but pitching wins championships.  Hopefully Hendricks will be part of the rotation for a while.

How far under the radar is he?

I don't have a single card of him.  He wasn't in Pro Debut, Bowman, or Heritage Minors since his trade to the Cubs.  He has 2012 cards from his time with the Rangers, but nothing with the Cubs.

I had to take things into my own hands...this will have to do for now.