Cubs carry Kyle Hendricks on wild-card roster

[cigaretteman]

Kyle Hendricks hasn't made a relief appearance in his 45 major league games, but the Chicago Cubs included their fifth starter on their 25-man roster for Wednesday night's National League wild-card game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Cubs will carry 10 pitchers and 15 position players on their roster. As expected, left-hander Jon Lester was on the roster to back up Jake Arrieta. But the addition of Hendricks is a surprise because of Arrieta's durability and the addition of Lester as insurance.

Neil Ramirez, who pitched a scoreless inning Sunday, was left off the roster. Ramirez missed most of this season because of a right shoulder injury.

Outfielders Quintin Berry and Austin Jackson, who didn't join the Cubs until Sept. 1, were included on the wild-card roster. Berry will serve as a pinch runner.

Infielder Jonathan Herrera, who was on the roster for the entire season, was left off the wild-card roster.

Here's the Cubs' wild-card roster:

Pitchers

28-Kyle Hendricks, RHP

33-Clayton Richard, LHP

34-Jon Lester, LHP

37-Travis Wood, LHP

46-Pedro Strop, RHP

49-Jake Arrieta, RHP

52-Justin Grimm, RHP

53-Trevor Cahill, RHP

56-Hector Rondon, RHP

57-Fernando Rodney, RHP

Position players

3-David Ross

5-Quintin Berry

8-Chris Coghlan

9-Javier Baez

11-Tommy La Stella

12-Kyle Schwarber

13-Starlin Castro

15-Chris Denorfia

17-Kris Bryant

22-Addison Russell

24-Dexter Fowler

27-Austin Jackson

44-Anthony Rizzo

47-Miguel Montero

68-Jorge Soler

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-kyle-hendricks-on-roster-20151007-story.html

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

Pretty crummy article. Hendricks is not the Cubs 5th starter. He is probably their third.

 

[hawkifann]

I would imagine Hendricks is there primarily to come into the game if the Cubs hit an extra innings situation after the top bullpen guys are burned. Lester is probably the last guy that they would use....or maybe the first if Arrieta starts getting bombed in the first two innings.

 

[LuteHawk]

Kyle is an insurance policy if the game goes into extra
innings.

 

[lucas80]

Kind of shabby to leave Herrera off. He was a decent contributor all season long. And, no, I am not sentimental. I understand the importance of tonight. But, if it gets down to the last guy on the bench having Herrera there versus Quinton Berry won't matter too much.
I thought Rodney might be left off the roster. Even an achy Ramirez is better than Rodney.

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

Kind of shabby to leave Herrera off. He was a decent contributor all season long. And, no, I am not sentimental. I understand the importance of tonight. But, if it gets down to the last guy on the bench having Herrera there versus Quinton Berry won't matter too much.
I thought Rodney might be left off the roster. Even an achy Ramirez is better than Rodney.

Herrea hasnt had an at bat since Sept 9th.

 

[hawkifann]

Kind of shabby to leave Herrera off. He was a decent contributor all season long. And, no, I am not sentimental. I understand the importance of tonight. But, if it gets down to the last guy on the bench having Herrera there versus Quinton Berry won't matter too much.
I thought Rodney might be left off the roster. Even an achy Ramirez is better than Rodney.

If this were the NLDS and not the one-game WC, you'd see a different group. Remember that if the Cubs win tonight, they'll create a whole new roster to face the Cardinals. There, you might see Herrera over a guy like Berry...then again, maybe not since he has not been used much at all the last few weeks. In a roster built for one single game, why not give yourself an extreme speed guy to be a PR? I think in this kind of roster, Berry is much more valuable than Herrera.

 

[lucas80]

Hey, I said I understand what tonight is about. But, yeah, it's a little shabby. Herrera proved to be a versatile defender and had a few big AB's during the year. I'm just a sentimental kind of guy. I know Berry is there on the off chance he's needed to steal a base.
How about the starting line up of LaStella at 3rd and Bryant in LF? PNC plays big because of it's LF dimensions. Wouldn't you rather have a more skilled guy in LF tonight? You will already have a below average RF with Schwarber starting.

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

If this were the NLDS and not the one-game WC, you'd see a different group. Remember that if the Cubs win tonight, they'll create a whole new roster to face the Cardinals. There, you might see Herrera over a guy like Berry...then again, maybe not since he has not been used much at all the last few weeks. In a roster built for one single game, why not give yourself an extreme speed guy to be a PR? I think in this kind of roster, Berry is much more valuable than Herrera.

In the NLDS, that roster spot goes to Hammel

 

[hawkifann]

In the NLDS, that roster spot goes to Hammel

Maybe....or maybe Hammel gets Rodney's spot.

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

Theres no way they are going into a divsion series with 10 pitchers