An emotional day went down at Wrigley Field Saturday as Kyle Hendricks made his final start of the 2024 season.

An up-and-down season for Hendricks ended on a high note as he pitched his best outing of the year, tossing 7.1 shutout innings.

With Hendricks in the final year of his contract, there is a lot of uncertainty about his future with the organization but even with that in mind, the fans made sure they vocalized their feelings about the 11-year veteran as he left the mound.

“I hope this just ends up being another game for me but like we know it’s all uncertain so soak it all in and man, they made it so special for me today. That was incredible,” Hendricks told Elise Menaker.

The pitching change was no ordinary moment, either. Rather than Craig Counsell coming to take Hendricks out, it was Tommy Hottovy, Hendricks’ pitching coach since 2019, who did the honors.

“It threw me off a little when he walked out there but that was so special. We’ve been together for so long, he’s meant so much to me, you know,” said Hendricks.

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Hendricks was aware going into his final start of the year that he hadn’t had his best season, ultimately finishing with a 5.92 ERA, so he made a point of giving the team and the fans his all in his final start of the season.

“Definitely want to finish strong, give my guys something at the end of the year. It was obviously a struggle for me this year so just really fun to finish strong, have one more good one in front of these fans,” Hendricks said.

Before exiting the field after an emotion filled start, the man fondly referred to as “The Professor” left Cubs fans with a message of gratitude.

“Love you guys,” said Hendricks. “So many special memories. It’s going to take me a long time to sift through and reminisce on everything but it’s all because of you guys, so thank you for everything.”

In his career with the Cubs, Hendricks pitched 1,580.1 innings from 2014-2024 with 7.1 of his strongest coming in his 2024 finale.

Watch Kyle Hendricks’ full postgame interview on the Marquee Sports Network app