If ‘Keeping up with the Cubs’ were a reality show, Kyle Hendricks would probably be an avid watcher.

[MORE: Cubs players excited for Kyle Hendricks reunion in series vs. Angels]

Hendricks proved that much on the first day of his friendly reunion with the Cubs, as the North Siders began their West Coast road trip with a three-game series against Hendricks’ Los Angeles Angels.

The Cubs fan-favorite signed a one-year deal with the Angels in free agency at the conclusion of the 2024 season, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about the organization he spent 12 years with.

“I mean, I’m a huge baseball fan, so you’re obviously, you’re dialed in and following kind of everything,” Hendricks told Marquee Sports Network’s Elise Menaker of his knowledge of the 2025 Cubs in an exclusive interview from the Angel Stadium dugout. “(I’m) super excited for what (the Cubs have) been doing this year.”

Watch the full, exclusive interview with Kyle Hendricks only on the Marquee Sports Network app.

Hendricks was even up-to-date on the Cubs’ rough August stretch and their roster moves, giving a nod to the recent returns of Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad.

“Every team has their kind of hot and cold streaks, but it all kind of depends on health, too,” Hendricks said. “So I’m really glad to see them starting to get fully healthy again, getting the pitching staff back.”

Hendricks, now 35, saw every side of baseball in his stint with the Cubs, from being part of a last-place club in his 2014 rookie campaign to helping lead the Cubs to a World Series victory as he posted the best ERA in the league (2.13) in 2016.

But he was once a fresh-faced prospect, too, and he had nothing but praise for the young players who have come through the system just as he did.

“I like talking about the young guys, you know, and guys taking advantage of their opportunities,” Hendricks said. “So seeing (Pete Crow-Armstrong), seeing Cade, the way he’s been throwing the ball, just all that really makes the team really come together. I’m just really excited to see what they can do going into October.”

But before October comes — and before September even comes — Hendricks get to face his old team, purely by chance. He’s slated to start the series finale for the Angels on Sunday.

“I was gonna be pitching on Monday in Texas, but one of my teammates — the starting pitcher — just had a newborn baby two nights ago. So, you know how that happens? Switches the schedule up a little bit. So maybe I had some angels looking out for me. And I get to face my former team, face all my buddies over there,” Hendricks said with a smile.

Hendricks is 6-8 with a 4.93 ERA in 126 innings pitched with the Angels this season. Sunday will be his 25th start of the year, 11 months after he walked off the mound for the final time as a Chicago Cub.

“It’s a little different, for sure,” Hendricks said of not wearing the Cubs’ iconic blue pinstripes this season. “For the Cubs fans, it might be a little shocking, but I’m just still loving life, enjoying what I do. But, really cool to have the Cubs in town right now. Just excited to see all my buddies over there — can’t wait to catch up with them.”