ATLANTA – Kyle Hendricks has joined the Detroit Tigers.
The 36-year-old never player for the Tigers in his 12-year MLB career, but he has been hired by the Tigers as a special assistant in the front office through his relationships with president of baseball operations Scott Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg.
Not only does Hendricks have a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College, but he also logged 1,745 innings over 307 games (301 starts) as a pitcher in the big leagues after completing his Ivy League education.
The Tigers have five special assistants in the front office.
The other four are Tigers legends: Kirk Gibson, Jim Leyland, Alan Trammell and Miguel Cabrera.
Hendricks pitched for the Chicago Cubs (2014-24) and the Los Angeles Angels (2025) in his 12-year MLB career, announcing his retirement in November 2025. He developed relationships with Harris and Greenberg while they were all with the Cubs.
Harris worked for the Cubs from 2012-19; Greenberg worked for the Cubs from 2011-21.
During his MLB career, Hendricks registered a 3.79 ERA – including a 2.13 ERA across 190 innings in 31 games (30 starts) in a career-best 2016 season as the Cubs won the World Series.
His fastballs (both his two-seamer and four-seamer) averaged just 87.2 mph throughout his 1,745 innings.
He relied on precision over power as a pitcher.