Chicago Cubs Manager Gets Honest About Struggling Fan Favorite

Craig Counsell and the Chicago Cubs are fresh off of back-to-back wins over their intracity rival Chicago White Sox.

While they were big wins, they were too close for comfort.

The White Sox are not a good baseball team this year and the Cubs were barely able to beat them. That was yet another sign of the massive struggles that the club has been going through over the last few weeks.

One of the biggest disappointments of the 2024 season, thus far, has been the poor play from starting pitcher and fan favorite Kyle Hendricks.

He has been a key part of Chicago's rotation for years. Age may be starting to catch up with him and it hasn't been pretty this season. He has lost his starting job and has been relegated to the bullpen.

So far, Hendricks has started in seven games and pitched in 10.

He has compiled an 0-4 record to go along with a brutal 9.38 ERA. Those numbers simply aren't going to get things done and could cost him his job if he can't turn it around soon.

In a recent quote, Counsell spoke out about Hendricks and the struggles he is going through. He provided hope that the 34-year-old right-hander can turn things around.

"Our pitching is precarious enough right now that we can't (be) committing to anything long-term, we are going day by day with a lot of this right now and I think we should. The goal still is to get Kyle on track and get him back in the rotation. That's absolutely what I'd like to do."

He continued on, talking about Hendricks' mindset and how the pitcher is approaching everything.

"He wants to do what he can to help the team. I mean, that never wavers for Kyle. He doesn't have to be happy with it, but I think he still knows that he's going to do whatever he can to help the Cubs win games."

Hopefully, the Cubs' longtime fan favorite can figure out his struggles and get back to being a quality pitcher.

Whether it's in the rotation or out of the bullpen, he could make a major impact.

However, there is also a very good chance that he simply doesn't have it anymore. He's aging and his velocity has never been overpowering.

Quite simply, his pitches might be too easy to hit.

Only time will tell whether or not Hendricks can turn his season back around. That being said, he could be facing even more of a demotion if it doesn't happen soon.

It's very possible that Chicago could be forced to cut ties with him.