The 2024 campaign has been rife with frustration for Kyle Hendricks.

And Friday added another chapter to his season of turmoil.

Hendricks didn’t make it out of the 5th inning against the Pirates at Wrigley Field, allowing 8 runs (7 earned) on 11 hits as the Cubs lost 9-3.

“We certainly need better,” Craig Counsell said. “There was a bunch of hits obviously and we end up with 8 runs on the board. That’s not going to work and that’s not going to be good enough. He didn’t have a good day.”

Hendricks’ ERA now sits at 10.57 and he has let up 50 hits and 36 earned runs in 30.2 innings this season.

While the final stat line was far from ideal, Hendricks’ outing Friday also featured some bad luck. He induced some weak contact but the Pirates were still able to collect hits — 6 of the 11 knocks had exit velocities of 90.5 mph or lower. That includes hits in the 3rd and 4th inning by Jared Triolo (75.7 mph), Yasmani Grandal (66.9 mph) and Rowdy Tellez (66.4 mph).

The home run ball has been an issue for Hendricks this season and he surrendered a 2-run blast to the Pirates’ No. 9 hitter Triolo in the 3rd inning on a changeup that caught a bit too much of the plate.

“Not the results obviously but to be honest, I felt I made two bad pitches, which is crazy to look at that start and say that,” Hendricks said. “I thought the homer and then the [Nick] Gonzales double were two bad changeups. Other than that, I thought I was even better down in the zone. I thought I executed better than my last start.

“Just bizarre. So many soft hits falling in front. Just got to stick with the process, stick with down in the zone, stick with executing and hopefully that’s got to switch.”

Hendricks has been searching for answers all season but his level of frustration was different after this outing.

Earlier in the season, he felt like he was leaving too many balls in the middle of the plate, giving up hard contact and he was unhappy with his level of focus in-game.

But on Friday, Hendricks was actually satisfied with his progress — while simultaneously being unhappy with the results.

“It’s tough,” he said. “You got to stick with the process and stick to the work I’m putting in and honestly self-evaluate the pitches I’m making. Even going and looking at video today, it was down, it was out of the zone, stuff on the corners, a lot of stuff off the end of the bat.

“So that’s just where you got to keep your focus and away from the results in a way.”

This was Hendricks’ 2nd start since coming off the IL with a back injury. He carried a 12.00 ERA through his first 5 outings of the season before allowing only 1 run in 5 innings against the Pirates on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

So what comes next for Hendricks and the Cubs? Is his place in the rotation secure?

“I mean, I think we got to look at the start a little closer and see what’s going on,” Counsell said. “We’re in a tough stretch right now. We’ve got 8 pitchers on the injured list.

“We’ve got to keep doing our best to help Kyle turn the corner. And I think that that’s going to be really important here. In the stretch we’re in, we’re going to need innings.”

Hendricks knows he needs to give the team more.

“I take pride in getting the ball every fifth day and being a consistent guy out there and giving my team a chance to win,” he said. “I’m not getting that right now. So that’s really all that matters to me at the end of the day. And that’s where my focus is every single day. I just got to keep working for that.”

Friday marked quite the dichotomy on the mound at Wrigley Field with Pittsburgh phenom Paul Skenes opposing Hendricks. Skenes ranks 4th in baseball this season with a 100.1 mph average fastball velocity while Hendricks sits at 480th out of 485 pitchers with 87.9 mph average velocity.

Kyle Hendricks and Paul Skenes are at opposite ends of the spectrum. pic.twitter.com/gHXs6IHmqf

— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) May 17, 2024

Skenes had a banner day, looking every bit like a No. 1 overall pick.

The Cubs did not collect their first baserunner of the day until Michael Busch walked with 1 out in the 5th inning. Their first hit came with 2 outs in the 7th inning when Christopher Morel singled off Pittsburgh reliever Carmen Mlodzinski.

Skenes struck out the first 7 Cubs he faced and finished with 11 whiffs in 6 hitless innings before giving way to the Pirates bullpen.