Why Kyle Hendricks is the key to the Cubs improving in the second half

If the Cubs are going to get off to a quick start in the second half that leads to another playoff run, nobody figures to be more important than Kyle Hendricks.

The 2016 major-league ERA champ, who said he was on the best roll of his career before his shoulder started bothering him in mid-June, made his second abbreviated start Sunday since the injury and sounded confident he’s ready to get hot again once he’s back from the break.

“It’s already really close,” Hendricks said, comparing his feel Sunday to when he went 6-0 with a 1.99 ERA in eight starts from early May to early June. “It’s just a tick off timing-wise.”

Hendricks (7-7) is scheduled to open the second series out of the break (July 15 against the Reds at Wrigley Field) on seven days of rest.

With Cole Hamels (1.22 ERA in June) sidelined with an oblique injury, the stakes will be high for the rest of the rotation, especially considering the team’s 18-25 record since May 22. It’s especially flaccid considering that stretch included a 6-1 homestand at one point.

“It’s been our focus all year, but we need to lock in on it even more, [missing] Cole, how well he was pitching for us,” Hendricks said of the need to get the starters on track. “We’ve got to come out and establish our identity again, getting ahead early, being aggressive, getting some quick outs, for me especially.”

Hendricks struck out six and allowed two runs (Eloy Jimenez’s two-run shot in the fourth) and four hits in four innings on 86 pitches as the Cubs continue to ease him back from the shoulder injury that kept him out for 2½ weeks.

Hendricks skipped an originally planned rehab start, largely because of Hamels’ injury June 28, and threw just three innings in his return Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

His start July 15 comes just ahead of the day the Cubs must fill Hamels’ vacated spot with either rookie Adbert Alzolay, Tyler Chatwood or some combination of arms.

“The one thing I just asked him afterwards [Sunday] was, ‘Do you feel healthy?’ ” said manager Joe Maddon, who lauded Hendricks’ velocity and movement. “He said, ‘Yes.’ So I said, ‘then that’s a great outing for you.’

“Take his break right now, come on back, and it’s something to definitely build on. When we get him and Cole back in there with the rest of the group, it’ll look a lot like it had earlier on, when the starters got on a roll.”

Otherwise, it won’t take long for the Cubs to add new meaning to the dog days of August.

Sudden impact

Five days into his major-league career, infielder Robel Garcia has been the closest thing to making a difference for the Cubs in the last two or three weeks.

Even in the 3-1 loss to the Sox, Garcia provided the only scoring with a homer to left against left-hander Aaron Bummer. It was his second homer in four days.

“He’s overall made a great first impression,” Maddon said of the switch-hitting second baseman, who also committed his second error. “I think he’s represented himself well coming from the background he has, showing up all of a sudden with a team that’s a good team but not playing as well as they can, and being able to step in there and be very helpful.”