It's fairly nuts that there are people who in the media who are starting to whisper about Hendricks in Cy Young consideration. Don't get me wrong I love Hendricks but.... DAMN. The thought process is apparently that there's a chance Hendricks passes Bumgarner for the ERA crown and Kershaw being injured might not make enough starts to qualify. And if you can win the NL ERA crown then you're in the conversation. Needless to say, most seemed to think I was terribly optimistic about him being a potential #3 starter. The way he's played this year is striking even in comparison to that.
As an aside, it's hard to tell because a lot of stuff is connected but soft contact rate seems to be something this front office really likes out of their pitchers or at the very least it's the outcome of what they are looking for. If i were to describe what a typical "cubs" pitcher looks like it's above average k/9(7-9) but not "elite," fairly elite bb/9(anything sub 2.5 really but closer to 2), above average ground ball rate(45%+ preferably) and high soft contact. It's kind of an unusual profile for what people typically think of as "top pitchers." Then again, that's probably what makes said pitchers cheaper and hence why they are attractive. That basically describes their top 3 starters this year in Lester/Arrieta/Hendricks and while I don't have the same access to minor league batted ball data, it seems to describe similar players like Preston Morrison, Jeremy Null, Ryan Williams, Jen-ho Tseng....etc.
Just something to keep in mind when the talks of who the cubs want for a new young starter come up.
