ANAHEIM -- As Kyle Hendricks walked off the field at Angel Stadium on Sunday afternoon, he received a standing ovation. Not for his performance, but rather as a sign of respect and gratitude from the many Cubs fans in attendance for a pitcher they spent a decade cheering on.
Hendricks, who pitched with Chicago from 2014-24 and started Game 7 of the 2016 World Series that ended the franchise’s 108-year championship drought, fared well early against his former team but ultimately gave up four runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 4-3 win for the Cubs that sealed a three-game sweep.
“That was awesome,” Hendricks said of the ovation. “The fans are always so awesome. Growing up around here, the Angel fans obviously are awesome. But the Chicago fans, just playing there for so long, and they travel so well, I knew there were gonna be a lot of them here today, and just to get that from that side, too, is really special. I appreciate them so much.”
Hendricks retired six of the first seven Cubs batters he faced, but it was his old friend Ian Happ -- now the longest-tenured player on the team after Hendricks signed with the Angels in free agency following the 2024 season -- who got the better of him, drawing two walks.
Happ has seen guys chase Hendricks’ stuff throughout his whole career, so he stepped into the batters’ box knowing he had to stay disciplined. During his fourth-inning at-bat, he wanted to swing while up 3-0 in the count, but he knew Hendricks wouldn’t give him anything to hit. On the next pitch, Hendricks threw Happ a fastball outside for ball four.
“It’s just fun having that battle,” Happ said. “I’ve listened to him go over reports and talk about hitters for so long. There was definitely a part of me that was trying to just face the report of Kyle Hendricks, and not the guy I played with for so long.”
The Cubs kept chipping away at Hendricks, as they got on the board in the third on an RBI single from a red-hot Kyle Tucker, who homered on Friday and twice on Saturday.
In the fourth, it was a combination of Happ and Nico Hoerner that got the better of Hendricks, as Hoerner followed Happ's walk with a go-ahead RBI double on a line drive to left-center just out of the grasp of a diving Taylor Ward.
As Happ rounded third on his way to home, he told Hendricks one of the called balls might’ve been in the zone.
“I’m scared of you,” Hendricks chirped back.
The two were teammates for seven years, but their bond goes deeper than baseball. Happ was in Hendricks’ wedding. He was there for the birth of his first child.
“I'm so close with him,” Hendricks said of Happ. “Nico, too, in a way, but Happer. He's been there for a long, long time. … He's just the epitome of what it means to be a professional. So lucky to take the field with him every single time I went out there, he gives you everything [he's] got. And just what he does outside the field, he meant so much to me.”
Hoerner also looks back on his time with Hendricks fondly. He remembers being able to go up to him and pick his brain about anything related to the game, and becoming a better pro because of it. To Hoerner, Hendricks represents the power of consistency.
“He’s known himself really well,” Hoerner said. “He has a really unique skillset and was able, throughout his career -- and is still able -- to just embrace what he does really well and continue to improve, but also stay consistent to himself.”
Hendricks, who grew up in Orange County and attended Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Angels as a free agent last offseason. Hendricks has the seventh-most strikeouts in Cubs history with 1,259, 46 behind Greg Maddux. He’s also in the top 10 in starts (270) and won 97 games for Chicago. His start against his former team on Sunday was his 25th of the season, the most he’s had since 2021.
In those 25 starts for the Halos, Hendricks has a 5.04 ERA with 87 strikeouts and a 1.32 WHIP over 130 1/3 innings pitched.
“It’s been a different chapter for me, obviously,” Hendricks said. “It's been a continuation in a way, it's just been really cool being able to pay it back. All the people that were there for me, the teammates, the John Lester's, John Lackey, Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, all these older guys that really took me under their wing and showed me how to do it, how to be a professional. I really took that to heart.”
Now, Hendricks is doing what Lester, Lackey, Arrieta and Hammel did for him, for the Angels' young arms. And he’s doing it just down the road from his hometown.
“I’m just happy for Kyle,” Hoerner said. “He’s got an opportunity to pitch near where he grew up. He’s got a kid now and a family. It’s just cool to be able to have this chapter of his career after such an amazing time in Chicago.
“Always kind of funny, facing people you know really well personally. Just an all-time great teammate and a legend in Chicago.”