CHICAGO -- The Cubs are hopeful that starter Kyle Hendricks will be ready to rejoin the rotation at some point around the All-Star break. On Thursday, manager Joe Maddon did not rule out the possibility that Hendricks could make his return before the season's intermission.

"It's possible," Maddon said. "It is possible, so we're not excluding any of that. He's doing really well -- like I've been saying. He's feeling really good. ... If everything plays out properly and it looks like the right thing to do, we will. We're still going to listen to him and his body, but he sounds really encouraging right now."

Hendricks, who is on the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder issue, completed a 30-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday and said Thursday morning that he felt fine in the wake of that workout. The next step will be a 45-pitch bullpen session on Saturday, but the pitcher did not want to speculate about his schedule beyond that in his throwing progression.

"They try to keep me day to day so I don't get too excited," Hendricks said.

Hendricks last started on June 14 against the Dodgers and an MRI exam a couple days later revealed an impingement in the joint. The right-hander received a cortisone shot at the time and said his arm has responded well to that procedure.

"I haven't regressed at all," Hendricks said. "Everything's felt really good -- 100 percent. It's responded well to everything we've done. So we can keep moving forward."

Worth noting

• The biggest silver lining for the Cubs since losing Hendricks to the IL has been getting a chance to see what rookie Adbert Alzolay can do on the Major League stage. Through two appearances, the 24-year-old Alzolay has nine strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings with a 2.08 ERA. Hendricks has been impressed.

"He's unbelievable, man," Hendricks said. "His mental approach to it, just how locked in he is, the video work he does, the notes in-between innings, everything. You can tell, he's locked in and he has an unbelievable idea of what he's doing. I had seen -- from when we were together in Arizona -- I saw just how hard of a worker he is. Now, to see him and the stuff he has and to see him out on the mound, I loved every second of it."

Maddon said the Cubs have a tentative plan in place for Alzolay's next step, but the manager was not ready to disclose that information on Thursday morning.

• Even with closer Craig Kimbrel now in the fold, Maddon did not want fans to lose sight of how good setup man Pedro Strop has been for the Cubs. Heading into Thursday, Strop had a 2.74 ERA in parts of seven seasons with Chicago, serving as a setup man, part-time closer and impacting the team off the field and in the clubhouse.

"If he has a bad day, people become critical very quickly," Maddon said. "And they have no understanding of how consistent this guy's been. He's been one of the most consistent relievers in baseball over the last four or five years. Really delve into the numbers and check out his slider and what that does to both righties and lefties. It's hard to get better than Pedro's been."

• Right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and gave two thumbs up when asked Thursday morning how things went. The reliever (10-day IL, left thoracic strain) is scheduled to throw off a mound again on Saturday.

• Cubs outfielder Carlos Gonzalez was ejected from Thursday's game in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Nic Lentz. Gonzalez thought he drew a walk on a low 3-1 pitch and then argued after a called third strike on a pitch from Braves starter Bryse Wilson. Lentz promptly tossed the veteran outfielder from the game.