For the first time in nearly two years, Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks will be returning to a Major League roster after being activated from the 15 day injured list Saturday.
After making his 5th appearance since beginning treatment for Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hendriks sustained an elbow injury with the White Sox on June 9th 2023 which required Tommy John surgery. The 2023 Al Comeback Player of the Year winner signed a 2 year, $10M contract with Boston in February of 2024, but continued to deal with right elbow inflammation.
The 36 year old attempted a return to the big leagues in September of 2024, making 6 minor league rehab appearances, but began to feel discomfort in his throwing arm.
As a result, he was ultimately shutdown for all of 2024 to ensure he was 100% healthy for the 2nd year of his deal. Hendriks has made 476 career appearances over the course of a career split between the Twins, Blue Jays, Royals, Athletics, and White Sox.
He’ll now rejoin a revamped Boston bullpen which also includes Aroldis Chapman, Justin Slaten, and Garrett Whitlock. Hendriks entered spring training as the favourite for saves amongst the Red Sox relievers, however his slower ramp up, as well as Chapman’s strong showing out of the gates likely means he’ll assume a late inning set up role for the time being.
Across 3 minor league appearances, Hendriks struck out 5 batters, walked two, and averaged 94 MPH on his fastball. All encouraging signs after a somewhat rocky spring training.
In order to make room for him on the Major League roster, Boston optioned RHP Hunter Dobbins back to Triple-A Worcester following Friday’s start against Chicago.
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.