Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks rolls again behind Anthony Rizzo’s power display

9:31 PM ET

CHICAGO — And here we thought Kyle Hendricks was just a K lost in a forest of J’s. Hendricks is supposed to simply be the fifth wheel behind the powerhouse foursome atop the Chicago Cubs’ rotation. You know, the four J’s: Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Jason Hammel, John Lackey. But would you believe it’s actually the K that is looking more and more like an A — as in ace?

“Today, I wasn’t too sharp on my fastball command, honestly,” Hendricks said, not buying into the dominance talk. “A couple of pitches got away from me. When things are kind of going in your favor, you get away with some bad pitches.”

Humble, but it’s hard to “get away” with the run Hendricks is on. It’s not quite on the Arrieta scale just yet, but Hendricks has quietly become one of the hottest, and best, pitchers in the National League. Relying on a changeup-heavy arsenal, Hendricks racked up 6⅓ scoreless innings against the New York Mets on Wednesday, departing with a 6-0 lead the Cubs turned into a 6-2 victory.

“Overall, Kyle was pretty much in command,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He had control of what he was doing. He had really good stuff once again.”

And while we’re throwing out letters, here’s three more: MVP, as in the burgeoning MVP candidacies of the Cubs’ two marquee sluggers, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant.

Kyle Hendricks pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning Wednesday, lowering his ERA to 2.27 and improving to 9-6. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

It was Rizzo who took center stage Wednesday to back Hendricks. One night after he struck out four times for the first time in his 686 big league games, Rizzo hammered a pair of homers deep into the right-field bleachers.

“The power of 24 hours,” Maddon said. “That’s …

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