The Bernstein Brief: Kyle Hendricks, Bats Ease Joe Maddon's Mind
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Cubs manager Joe Maddon has been open about discussing his primary concern upon arriving at the ballpark each game day. It's the bullpen, always -- who's able to go and who's not, who feels good and who doesn't.
As most teams do now, he has a low-leverage plan for the day and a high-leverage one, bifurcating the relievers to best fit score and situation. The trade-deadline acquisitions of Mike Montgomery, Aroldis Chapman and side-winding specialist Joe Smith were all in an effort to give Maddon more tools to use as the games matter more, a nod of trust from the front office to its manager.
But occasionally there's nothing better than then the bullpen not mattering one bit, and it's especially true after a 12-inning game the night before that needed eight different pitchers. Kyle Hendricks and five runs did the trick Monday night, a complete-game shutout that took a career-high 123 pitches and lowered his ERA to an MLB-third-best 2.22.
How much it matters in the grand scheme is unknown, but one less night of wear and tear on the Cubs' bullpen can't hurt, particularly on the first day of what for contending teams can often feel like baseball's longest month.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.