In general, there is no good time for an injury to strike.

But for Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs, this is as good of a time as any for the veteran starter to land on the shelf.

The Cubs placed Hendricks on the 15-day IL Tuesday with a low back strain. It was something that he felt during his between-starts bullpen last week and then it cropped up again in the pregame bullpen and throughout his start Sunday.

“Honestly not concerned about it really whatsoever,” Hendricks said. “It’s just one of those things where we’re at in the season, luckily we’ve got so many guys throwing the ball so well right now. It helps a lot.

“It just made sense to give it the time to settle down, get out of there. Give myself a chance to be back to 100% and then try and attack from there.”

Hendricks didn’t use the back injury as an excuse for his rough start to the season (12.00 ERA, 2.10 WHIP). But given the way he was pitching, he and the Cubs didn’t feel like now was the time to push through a minor injury.

There was also the consideration that he might start overcompensating for the back strain and tweak his mechanics that ultimately end up affecting his arm. Hendricks missed the second half of 2022 and the first two months of last season getting over a capsular tear in his right shoulder.

And while he’s out, he can use the time effectively to get back to the pitcher he has been throughout his career (3.48 ERA entering 2024).

“I have to have honest self evaluation for sure,” Hendricks said. “I’m going to use this time to get things right that I need to get right and I just want to be here for this team by the end of the year.

“We know where we want to go; we have the team to do it this year. And I obviously just want to be a big part of that towards the end of the season. It’s been awesome to watch what we have and what’s going on right now, keeping us in at the record we’re at.

“Just going to be the best teammate I can be here for these younger guys and hopefully we can bridge this gap and I’ll come back strong and be myself again.”

For the next few days, the Cubs are working to reduce the inflammation in Hendricks’ back with treatment. He’s currently playing catch to keep his arm moving and the next step will be throwing a bullpen either this weekend or early next week when the Cubs are on the road.

Hendricks will go on a rehab stint at some point, too, which will help provide valuable feedback from hitters.

“The injury is going to give him an opportunity to not only heal but to work on some things pitching-wise,” Craig Counsell said. “Once we get him symptom-free, we’ll start working on [a plan]. Some of that is going to involve some bullpen work and mound work and then some of it will involve some competition.”

While he gets a reset here, Hendricks is evaluating everything – pitch usage, watching video, analyzing numbers, focusing on the mental side, etc.

He admits the struggles were starting to have a negative effect on his mentality on the mound.

“When things start going bad, the tendency is to have that snowball effect,” Hendricks said. “Your mental thoughts kind of get out of whack. So yeah, it’s just simplifying all those thoughts.

“Taking it one pitch at a time again and having that positive self talk that you can really lock in on and trust. That’s going to be part of the work going forward. All the catch play, all the bullpens that I’m going to have here getting back to healthy – that’s gonna be a big focus of it.”