Cubs' Hendricks ready for challenge of Coors Field (May 10, 2017)
DENVER -- Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks knows he will be battling both the Colorado Rockies and Coors Field in his start Wednesday.
Hendricks will oppose Rockies right-hander German Marquez in the rubber game of a three-game series Wednesday.
"It's a tough place to pitch, for sure," Hendricks said. "It's almost one of those things where you try and do more and less happens. You try and throw your curveball harder and it's going to break less. Almost you have to do less to make more happen here. Don't press when things aren't going your way.
"I've had games out here where my sinker just comes in dead straight. You kind of just have to roll with that and just try and spot up. Whatever your pitches are doing, just try and spot up as best you can. Hopefully you can back off a little bit and find that movement with all your pitches."
After Monday's game was rained out, the teams played a day-night doubleheader Tuesday with the Rockies winning the first game 10-4 and the Cubs rebounding to win the nightcap 8-1.
Hendricks (2-1, 3.51 ERA) has made three starts at Coors Field, going 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA. In 18 1/3 innings during those games, he had three walks and 10 strikeouts.
Hendricks, who led the National League with a 2.13 ERA last year while finishing 16-8, went 1-1 with a 6.19 ERA in his first three starts this season but is 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA in his past three starts. He began the season in the fifth spot in the Cubs' rotation and didn't make his 2016 debut until April 8 after they had played four games and had another rained out.
"I felt good in spring," Hendricks said. "Then I kind of had a long layoff and started collapsing on my back side and getting too rotational, basically. It seems like a quick fix, but it's one of those things where you just can't quite feel it until the good results start coming. My last three games have been much better.
"It's not on yet, it's not 100 percent, but it's more along the right track. I at least have some direction on my pitches. I'm getting more angle."
Marquez (0-2, 7.31 ERA) will be making his fourth start of the season, the first of his career against the Cubs. The 22-year-old pitched six scoreless innings April 30 at Arizona but is 0-2 with an 11.70 ERA in two starts this season at Coors Field. His last start was there Friday against the Diamondbacks, and Marquez allowed five runs in six innings on five hits, all for extra bases, and two homers with three walks and three strikeouts.
The Rockies acquired Marquez from Tampa Bay on Jan. 28, 2016, along with reliever Jake McGee for outfielder Corey Dickerson and minor league third baseman Kevin Padlo. Marquez was the Eastern League pitcher of the year in 2016 at Double-A Hartford and made his major league debut in September.
While Marquez isn't a homegrown Rockies pitcher, he fits in with rookies Antonio Senzatela, 22, and Kyle Freeland, 24, the starters in Tuesday's doubleheader, as a key piece for the Rockies' pitching future.
"Every organization I've been in, I think drafting and developing your own talent, especially on the mound, is so important," Colorado manager Bud Black said. "Because I think philosophically you want your guys from the onset doing things that you know have to be done at the big league level. And here in our situation (with Coors Field), it might be more critical here to build our own pitching, not only physically but probably more important mentally.
"You've heard me talk about the mindset of our pitchers and what our pitchers require -- the mental toughness, the ability to handle adversity, chaotic innings, chaotic games."
