Cubs Quick Hits: Hendricks Threw Mostly Four-Seamers in Playoffs

Kyle Hendricks usually gets batters out by throwing his his sharp-tailing sinker once every two pitches, but he didn’t rely on it nearly as much during the 2016 playoffs. Instead, he worked mostly off of the four-seam fastball.

In October, for the first time all year, he threw more four-seamers than sinkers. The graph above illustrates that Hendricks actually threw a four-seamer once every three pitches, and you can see where his usage spikes there toward the end. Maybe batters were caught off-guard by the sudden change in his approach.