Rotation battle in focus: Keegan Thompson to bullpen, Kyle Hendricks schedules next rehab step

Right-hander Keegan Thompson grabs his glove to head over to throw a bullpen Wednesday at Cubs Spring Training in Mesa, AZ. (John Antonoff/Sun-Times)

MESA, Ariz. — The highly anticipated next step of Kyle Hendricks’ throwing -program is less than a week away, he -revealed Saturday. He is scheduled to throw off a mound on Friday.

“It’s been a long time,” Hendricks said. “But just this fun part of getting into the next phase, getting through this long-toss program, still feeling good, taking advantage of all of it, and being able to look forward to touching the mound now, very excited for that stuff.”