It looks like batting practice when this guy is pitching. what the hell happened?

Maybe Joe needs to get back on his ass like 2 years ago to push him to excellence?

Don't worry about him. All pitchers go through form cycles. He's a winner. The Cubs are lucky to have him.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

He's become something of a 5 inning pitcher lately.

_________________

Him and every other MLB starter.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

Not James Shields. Tied for 6th in all of MLB with 107ip.

_________________

The Cubs might actually want to give up a player to be named later to take Shields for the rest of the year.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

The smoke and mirrors are gone. It’s a fight to get to the bat rack for the other team.

_________________

His stuff was never great, his location was.. Now he's missing his spots and getting hit hard.

_________________

Right. That's a down cycle. He has a slight mechanical issue. Maybe he's sore. He'll get sharp again. He's a winner.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

Sore arm

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Bring back Bosio

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

But Bosio called someone a bad name!

Hendricks' ERA, among other things, is up 1 run in each of the last two years. I think everyone knew there would be regression from leading the league in ERA but this is disturbing as he really hasn't been dominant.

I think this proves once again that the THE PLAN is largely a myth. It was based mostly in catching lightning in a bottle from a couple of pitchers.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I was an early and ardent believer in THE PLAN, but your analysis gains credibility as time passes, the championship recedes from the forefront of our collective consciousness, and the team gradually regresses toward mediocrity.

_________________

Hendricks problem is his fastball sits at 88 mph.

The plan, was great. Draft really good hitting position players and then trade for pitchers that have not accomplished a great deal, but have ability that might translate to better performance.....Hendricks/Arrieta and sign free agent pitchers .....Lester. But then Theo changed the plan to trading really good prospects for more accomplished players like Chapman (should have traded for Papelbon, who would have been a bargain) and Quintana ( a middle of the rotation pitcher, not worthy of the prospects traded away) and traded away a decade of Glyber Torres, Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease. STUPID!!! That is the kind of thing that alters a long stretch of sustained excellence, to a shorter term period of contention. I hate that change. I said it then, so there is no change in my stance. The saving grace is the tremendous influx of cash that the team will get from a new TV deal and the fact they will finish reconstruction of the park soon and have a lot less money going out, with so much more coming in and can afford to spend on free agents to fortify the team. But they could have done things a lot smarter.

Hendricks may well miss Bosio. He credits him with helping him become a far more successful pitcher. Sometimes I wonder if a team might be better off having multiple coaches. A guy like Chile Davis might be better for Heyward and Baez, but not as good for Bryant, Rizzo and Contreras, who did better under Malee. Montgomery and Lester are flourishing under Hickey, but Hendricks and Quintana are not doing as well. Chatwood has always had control issues, but they seem even more pronounced problems now.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

He’ll be fine. Shaky month, especially the last few starts. Many overreacted with Lester early in the season. Chill.

Stick a fork in him. He may never pitch for the Cubs again.

_________________

He had one really good year in 2016. Not sure why people talk him up like he's an Ace.