What It Means:

This is somewhat of a surprising move given Jon Lester's postseason experience, but the Cubs will send out the righty for Friday's game against the Washington Nationals. Lester will instead pitch Game 2 while Jose Quintana takes the bump for Game 3 and Jake Arrieta for Game 4.

Hendricks was arguably the best Cubs pitcher over the second half of the season. In 13 starts, he went 3-2 with a 3.38 FIP and 8.31 strikeouts per 9 innings. In terms of postseason experience, the 27-year-old has a 1-1 record and 2.38 ERA in 7 career starts.