MESA, Ariz. - Pitcher Kyle Hendricks is one of the sharpest Chicago Cubs' players, and manager Joe Maddon prefers to limit his chats with him.
"He asked me in the dugout if I wanted to hit again," Hendricks quipped Thursday after hitting a double in a B game against the Los Angeles Angels. "He lets us go about our business. And we know what we need to do to get ready.
"One of his saying is he doesn’t want any of the coaches getting in the way of making a player great. Coaches can be there to help you be good, but you have to know yourself and what your body needs. So people stay out of the way, it forces you to learn yourself.’’
Maddon confirmed he limits his suggestions to Hendricks and some of the players.
"I watched the guy go about his business and there’s nothing I can say to help him except 'hello,' " Maddon joked. "I’m very careful regarding being too smart with people who don’t need your help. I’m not interfering with anything. I love watching him play.
"I watch him pitch closely for the first time and it looks very solid. He’s also a man of few words, so I don’t want to interfere with his prep, but I’m sure we’ll do a lot of talking before the season is over. I respect what he does and how he does it."
Maddon defending Hendricks' style, which depends more on location and change of speeds than velocity.
"The thing about him is everyone is going to play the (radar) gun game," Maddon said. "Take his velocity, combine that with location and then realize the actual effectiveness of that pitch. That’s where he really excels. People will not project on him highly, maybe because he wasn’t lighting up the gun. But he lights up the location, and ask a hitter what he thinks.
"He’s the kind of guy who won’t worry about a gun reading. He just gets hitters out."
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