Kyle Hendricks ‘thankful’ and ‘lucky’ to pitch at Wrigley Field, in front of Cubs fans
As spring training ramps up for the Cubs, on of the more popular faces in camp is Kyle.
No, not the 2016 hero who started Game 7 of the epic World Series that year and who spent 11 seasons in Chicago, Kyle Hendricks, but rather star outfielder Kyle Tucker.
Hendricks has moved on, he signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, ending his tenure with the team he joined back in 2014 in a trade with Texas that sent Ryan Dempster to the Rangers.
[MORE: What Ian Happ is hoping to learn from Kyle Tucker with Cubs]
But, the Cubs still hold a special place in Hendricks’ heart.
“To be in that place so long? I’m lucky,” Hendricks told the Sun-Times’ Steve Greenberg in a recent profile of “the Professor”. “I’m one of the luckiest people in the world.
“I feel like I put everything I had into every single day. I was surrounded by so many people who made me a better person, a better player, and the list is long. I’m so thankful to all of them. I got the most out of my career with the Cubs, I think, that I could, and I wouldn’t have asked for anything else.”
[‘Get to the World Series and win’: Cubs set lofty goals at onset of camp]In 11 seasons as a Cubs starter, Hendricks went 97-81 with a 3.68 ERA and pitched 1580.1 innings, including a pair of pivotal games in 2016: Game 6 of the NLCS and the aforementioned Game 7 of the World Series.
Hendricks could face his old team in a little under two weeks. The Angels will travel to Sloan Park on February 27 for a Cactus League contest. The Angels and Cubs will play a 3-game set in Anaheim in August.
