Generally, when the Cy Young race heats up shortly after MLB’s All Star break, one would see big name pitchers at the top of the list. More recently, pitchers like Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, and Jake Arrieta have been annual candidates. Cy Young candidates have historically also been power pitchers, guys who use their pitch speed to dominate hitters. However, this year, an underrated, finesse pitcher could steal the award.

Going into the beginning of the season, Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs was not touted to be the monster he has become. In fact, he was on the verge of not being a starter. Earlier on, shortly before spring training, the Cubs acquired Adam Warren from the New York Yankees in exchange for Starlin Castro. Warren was a long reliever who had the ability to start, as he did for the Yanks. However, at the end of Spring Training, Cubs skipper Joe Maddon announced that Hendricks would indeed be the Cubs’ fifth starter, beating out Travis Wood and Warren.

Hendricks enjoyed just an average start to the season. Through the first ten games that he pitched, he had an ERA of 2.93 and a WHIP of 0.98. The numbers just projected him to be an average middle-of-the-line starter. However, as of late, he has come around enjoying an ERA of 2.17 but a slightly higher WHIP of 1.02. An ERA of 2.17 is good enough for 2nd in the National League, behind only the injured Clayton Kershaw. Hendricks will have the lowest ERA in the league shortly because Kershaw will become ineligible due to his DL stint. Hendricks’s WHIP is good enough to be 6th best in the NL.

What makes Hendricks different than all the other potential candidates is the fact that he does not pitch fast. He is a finesse pitcher that relies mainly on four pitches to get the job done: a fastball, sinker, curveball, and a utterly disgusting changeup. His fastball’s average speed this season was 89.8 miles per hour, while his changeup averaged about 10 miles per hour slower at 80.3 mph.

Hendricks, an alumnus of Dartmouth University, uses his speed or lack thereof to outsmart opposing hitters. In fact, his changeup has improved greatly as the season has gone on. It has the highest whiff rate in the league. He has a ground ball rate of 52.3 percent, but the balls that are hit in the air are not really hit hard. The stat that involves that, the aptly named soft-hit ball rate, is at an incredible 27.1 percent. According to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.com, that is only second to Tanner Roark of the Washington Nationals who is one tenth of a percent higher. Hendricks almost has to work harder to get batters out because he doesn’t throw hard. Cubs manager, Joe Maddon said of Hendricks and his “stuff,” “It’s so fun to watch from the side because you see the reaction by the hitter…they take a pitch that they know is a strike, but there’s not a whole lot they could have done with it. The late-swinging foul balls, the uncertainty of what the pitch is going to be. He’s doing a great job of mixing it up, varying speeds and hitting his spots. I don’t think he can pitch any better than he is right now.”

Many critics of this argument would say that he doesn’t throw hard enough to be a contender. Others would say that his peripheral stats (like FIP, xFIP, and WAR) aren’t good enough to be a finalist. However, generally the voters don’t use peripheral stats to begin with; they look at the general stats, then they go to the peripherals. For example, Clayton Kershaw leads the NL in ERA at 1.79. Hendricks is second at 2.17. Kershaw is not projected to come off of the DL until mid-September. In a couple of weeks, Kershaw will “forfeit” his league leader rank due to the DL, Hendricks will then lead and thus, is worthy of a strong look to win the Cy Young.

Of course, all of this, as of right now is speculation. Major League Baseball had their All Star Game only three or so weeks ago. There is still a long way to go until October. Between now and then, pitchers could injure themselves, come back from injuries, go on streaks, etc.

Many would agree that Hendricks is a dark horse to win the Cy Young, a sneaky good pitcher who uses his speed to outsmart the opposition. Yes, Kyle Hendricks is not necessarily a household name when it comes down to it, but if one were to look at stats, they would see that he is a realistic contender for the top pitching award.