Kyle Hendricks is no longer the ERA-leading, staff ace he once was.

But amidst his trying 2024 campaign, he’s still provided plenty of value to the Cubs pitching staff.

“I think there’s so many lessons we learn from Kyle in everything that he does; the way he carries himself, the way he prepares, the way he handles media — everything, right? He does all the things right,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said before Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Nationals. “And so when you have a veteran guy who’s had a ton of success struggle and stay himself, continue to focus and work and kind of come out on the other end, it definitely gives guys a lot of confidence that whatever they go through, whatever challenges they may have, there’s ways to work through it.

“He’s a great role model for a lot of things, but definitely for those this year.”

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Hendricks was solid for 5 innings Saturday, but some bad luck — his defense didn’t help him out on some balls and others dropped in no-man’s land for hits — inflated his final line. The 34-year-old allowed 4 runs on 9 hits in 5.1 innings. He exited with 2 on and 1 out in the 6th and a 2-0 deficit before Keegan Thompson allowed a 3-run home run.

This season will end as the worst in Hendricks’ career and it was certainly his most challenging. He had a 10.57 ERA through his first 7 starts and was moved into the bullpen in mid-May. He rejoined the rotation after injuries and has been better, but he still carries a 6.28 ERA with one start likely remaining in his season.

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“I think we all saw how it went, and a lot of guys at different points of their career could back off [and] be like, ‘Ok, I just don’t have it anymore, it’s just not my time,’” Hottovy said. “But that’s just not Kyle. Kyle continues to work. He wants to get better. He wants to improve. And I think we saw the fruits of the labor that he put in.”

It’s a good lesson for the Cubs young pitchers. They’ll all go through struggles at some point, but Hendricks’ resolve to improve and get better is a prime example of how to adjust and stay in the game.

And that’s what makes Hottovy believe Hendricks isn’t ready to call it a career just yet. He is a free agent at the end of the season and there’s plenty of wonder as to what the Cubs and Hendricks will decide to do.

The team has four starters penciled in for next year with Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad as well as plenty of young arms at the upper levels of the minors or in the majors (Hayden Wesneski, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown and Cade Horton) and a rich free agent class with even more options.

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“Just having been around Kyle for a while, I think he knows what he could do and if he feels like he can still be a major league quality contributor, he’s gonna want to keep going,” Hottovy said. “But again, there’s family dynamics, there’s things that go on with guys that stay behind the scenes, obviously.

“But I think for Kyle, I think, yeah, if he wants to do it, I think he’s still got the ability to.”