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Cubs' Kyle Hendricks Defends Joe Maddon's Decision To Pull Him Early In Game 7 Of World Series

(CBS) As the Cubs closed the book on last season's championship at the Cubs Convention over the weekend and with a White House celebration Monday, there was plenty of reflection one last time on how their incredible postseason journey played out, specifically their rally from a 3-1 deficit in the World Series.

And with that came one more sequence of dissecting manager Joe Maddon's moves in the final few games of the postseason. One of the decisions that caused plenty of debate was Maddon's choice to pull Cy Young finalist Kyle Hendricks early in Game 7 of the World Series. Maddon gave Hendricks the hook after he threw 4 2/3 innings and with the Cubs leading 5-1. Hendricks would be charged with another run after he left, allowing two total, one earned, on four hits. Left-hander Jon Lester relieved him.

Asked Sunday about that early hook, Hendricks defended Maddon while admitting he of course wanted to continue pitching. Hendricks and Lester would both take a no-decision, as the Cubs were 8-7 winners in 10 innings against the Indians in the decisive game.

"Being a competitor, being in that competitive moment, nobody ever wants to come out of that game," Hendricks said on "Hit and Run" on 670 The Score on Sunday. "You can't lie about that. You want the ball. You want to be in that situation. That's what you play for, but at the end of the day, Game 7 with the Chicago Cubs, look at who you got coming in behind me -- you got Jon Lester. And then who else is up and ready? You got (Jake) Arrieta, (John) Lackey, (Aroldis) Chapman. Everybody's ready to go for that game. So if I stay in there and the hitters get more and more looks at me, who knows. Maybe they get more comfortable, start gaining a little momentum. I felt really good. I was making good pitches, but you never know what can happen in a game. Sitting in Joe's situation, he's the only guy that can make those decisions. Trust me. It's so hard to sit in that dugout and do it in the moment."

Listen to Hendricks' full interview with Barry Rozner and Joe Ostrowski below.

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Kyle Hendricks on Hit and Run

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