Angels Pitcher Expected to Retire This Offseason: Report

The brief homecoming for veteran pitcher Kyle Hendricks reportedly is coming to a close.

According to longtime MLB insider Jon Heyman, Hendricks is allegedly set to retire this offseason after what’s been a fantastic professional career.

Hendricks was born and raised in Orange County only a stone’s throw from where the Angels play. After pitching more than a decade for the Chicago Cubs, he decided to come home this past offseason to suit up for the Halos.

The 2025 year wasn’t a great one for the decorated pitcher. He went 8-10 in 31 starts with a 4.76 ERA. After back-to-back rough seasons (he had a 5.92 ERA last year), Kendricks apparently has decided to hang his cleats up in order to enjoy a much-deserved retirement.

Hendricks completely outperformed expectations — and he should be applauded for sticking around the league as long as he did.

Hailing from Dartmouth, Hendricks was an 8th round pick of the Texas Rangers back in 2011. He was then dealt to the Cubs, and within three years he was a key fixture for the team. His best season came in 2016 when he finished third in the NL Cy Young voting by going 16-8 with a microscopic 2.13 ERA.

Over his 12 year career, Hendricks won 105 games and accrued a combined .536 win percentage over that span. In a generation heavily reliant on velocity, Hendricks zagged the other way. His fastball rarely exceeded 90 mph — normally sitting in the high 80s.

Doing his best Greg Maddux impression, Hendricks in his prime was masterful with his control. He’d dot pitches with tremendous efficiency and poise. The California native was far more concerned with location and movement rather than throwing the ball as hard as humanly possible.

By manipulating the spin on the baseball, Hendricks enjoyed more than a decade in the big leagues with some real sucess.

As it pertains to the Angels, the starting rotation heading into next year has some real question marks. Yusei Kikuchi is the presumed ace, with revelations Jose Soriano and Reid Detmers expected to join the veteran.

From there, things get murky. There’s a real chance the Angels would re-enter the free agent market in order to ink an established starter to a multi-year deal as they did with Kikuchi last season.

Some possible free agent adds include Ranger Suarez, Chris Bassitt, Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, and Zac Gallen. Other pitchers with opt-outs/options include Shota Imanaga, SoCal native Jack Flaherty, Chris Sale, Michael King, and Freddy Peralta.

For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.