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CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs can legitimately be confident about their next post-season race based on three simple words. In fact, they are names. Names that are considered launching rights in the current era of baseball: Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Cole Hamels.
The trio can add to his distinguished resume simply by launching as he does now. Righty Hendricks was the last to show what could happen early next week when he threw eight innings of two balls in a huge 8-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. The win brought the Cubs closer to a third consecutive division title.
The center, the west and a wild card are still to win at the NL. Here's what you need to know when the playoff hunt is played.
In an interview with ESPN, Melisa Reidy-Russell said that she felt she was talking to the investigators about allegations of abuse against her ex-husband, Addison Russell, after rejecting them twice.
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"Pitching with his best stuff since I know him," said manager Joe Maddon after the game. "He is back in weaker contact, he looks strong, the ball out of his hand is good, it's a stronger version of Kyle."
Hendricks won the ERA title in 2016, then beat Clayton Kershaw in the sixth match of the NL Championship series that year, taking the Cubs to the world series for the first time since 1945. 1.79 ERA to go with a WHIP 0.92. He seems ready for the playoffs while he was at a run of less than 200 for the season, a career high. Maddon is right. Hendricks is stronger than ever.
"This year, I think it even more, in a way," said Hendricks. "I am just in this very good state of mind one step at a time.
Hendricks has good teachers like Jon Lester and Cole Hamels are even more accomplished. The first has three World Series championships to his credit and can pass through a match with the best of them. Lester is the likely starter of the first game of all playoffs for the Cubs.
"The guys who have been there, did that," said Maddon about the trio. "You can see when they're going over there, they're not nervous, they're impatient … it's not going too fast, they can take their game" A "and run, and if things go wrong … [they] Stand well and return to the horse. "
No one succeeds better without his "A" than Lester. He again proved Wednesday when he straightened the ship after showing little command in the first innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. By the time his night was over, he had six laundering sleeves under his belt, leaving anyone watching the match to ask, "How did he do that?
"It's amazing, the way they fight," said outfielder Albert Almora Jr. "You want guys to fight, these guys are going to fight."
Maybe no one has fought more than Hamels lately. Left for dead in Texas, he returned to the Cubs, earning an ERA of 2.47 in 11 starts with his new team. His resume includes one World Series MVP and four appearances in the Star Game.
"It's a player," said Almora. "It's a different animal when it's outside."
It was one thing to deal with the Cubs in the spring, when Lester had just woken up for the new year, Hendricks was finding his mechanics and Hamels was in Texas, dropping the home runs at an alarming rate . But when the leaves start to change color, there will be no team in the playoff race who will want to see these three names on the likely list of throws in a short series.
"They earned respect," said Almora.
The Cubs are far from being a perfect team as they head for the playoffs. They do not have a real rapprochement, and the offensive goes into hibernation more than any Cubs fan would like to see. But these three names can give hope when there is apparently none. They can lift a team simply by their presence, as they have all done in the past.
"The guys who have been here have done that – you can feel it," said Maddon. "You can feel it in the canoe, you can feel it on the ground."
The hope is that the opposition can feel it too. While the Cubs are trying to close their division over the weekend, they can sleep well knowing that whatever happens, Lester, Hendricks and Hamels will be there for them next week. It's comforting for a team that is trying to gain ground when they need it the most.
"Selfishly, I want to play when they go as they are," Almora said with a smile. "This Hendricks, it's a silent assassin."
Just ask the cardinals.
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