March 28: Despite the season-opening IL placement, Hendriks is not facing a severe injury, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic writes. He’s already been examined by Dr. Keith Meister, who performed his Tommy John surgery, and received a cortisone injection to help alleviate some inflammation and discomfort stemming from a compressed nerve. There’s no structural damage in Hendriks’ elbow. He’ll be shut down from throwing for three to five days but expects to resume throwing during next week’s series against the Orioles.
March 27: The Red Sox announced a slate of transactions to finalize their Opening Day roster, including a surprise placement of righty Liam Hendriks on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. Fellow right-hander Cooper Criswell, who had appeared ticketed for Triple-A Worcester, will instead break camp with the big league club.
Boston also selected the contracts of lefty Sean Newcomb and top prospect Kristian Campbell. Both have formally made the Opening Day roster. Lefties Chris Murphy and Zach Penrod were placed on the 60-day injured list to open spots. Murphy is recovering from UCL surgery performed last spring. Penrod was diagnosed with a left elbow sprain earlier in camp.
Additionally, the Red Sox placed Masataka Yoshida on the 10-day IL as he continues building back up from offseason shoulder surgery. Righties Brayan Bello (shoulder strain), Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring strain) were all placed on the 15-day IL, as expected.
Hendriks, who turned 36 last month, is entering the second season of a two-year, $10MM deal. The Red Sox signed him knowing that he’d miss most of all of the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The expectation early in camp was that he and offseason signee Aroldis Chapman could compete for ninth-inning work. The tide changed quickly. Chapman fanned 14 of the 30 batters he faced and held opponents to two runs in 7 1/3 innings. Hendriks allowed seven runs on 14 hits in just 6 1/3 frames. He didn’t walk anyone but also only whiffed four of the 32 hitters he faced.
The Red Sox haven’t yet provided a timetable for when Hendriks might return to the mound. For now, there’s no indication that he’s dealing with a long-term injury. Presumably, manager Alex Cora will have more information regarding his potential timetable when he meets with the media later today.
Sucks to say it, but that might just be curtains for Hendriks.
I agree. I had hopes for him this year
DarkSide, tree: As you might know, Hendriks has had a rough two years. Cancer in 2023, then tjs right after. I’m hoping he can return to some semblance of what he used to be with the A’s and White Sox, but he might have gone through too much and will have to reinvent himself into a different type of pitcher. I wish him the best. GO (RED) SOX!!!!
Thanks for the insight, bot
Joey Cora just announced that Hendricks will be a full time DH when he returns. Of course, Hendricks was not available to comment. Neither was Devers./s
lol
Yeah a good dude in the clubhouse and the community. Bummer but if that’s curtains at least he had a huge impact off the field and was an inspiration to people fighting cancer everywhere
Block any jE$s on campus lately?
Jets? Yeah that crazy buffoon and vax denier Rodgers
Not surprising…sadly.
Liam Hendriks needs to speak with Roger Beshens about the Football Slider to avoid getting hurt again.
It doesn’t prevent injury you inconsolable sludge, it merely propels you to unfathomable heights and success beyond your wildest dreams. If you wish to be a prophet of the great Roger Beshens, you must be careful what spews out of your mouth
Hahahaha, inconsolable sludge? Unfathomable heights? Wildest Dreams? Spews? Hahahaha, some people…..
Hendriks comeback trail was a nice story but it might be the end of the line
Be fun listening to him call games, if he decides to hang it up.
Sadly, I think Liam is done. A fine MLB career and he got his bag. Was fun to watch him get fired up when he was closing games for the White Sox, stand up guy.
Agreed, Acoss. Seems his elbow may have had as much as it can take at this point.
This guy can’t catch a break. Sheesh
Everyone is so quick to write Hendriks off. Seeing him as a competitor while with the A’s, I won’t bet against him. Dude has drive
This could also be a ploy to get him some low-stress innings recovering in the minors in rehab.
Pretty sure you are hot pockets, not Joe.
No you hot pockets. All of you
@Clar
Whats the point of being so negative lmao?
I agree. The guy hasn’t pitched at all in almost 2 years. It’s possible he just pushed himself a little too hard in ST after not pitching for so long, and his arm is objecting a little. He may just need a brief step back before moving forward again.
Ken – I agree as well. His health and well being should come first. He should take his time and come back as slow as possible. He’s already gonna get paid for this season, he should be focusing on preparation for next season. And he absolutely should NOT give a damn about the money the Red Sox lost on him. They knew the massive risk they were taking, they can afford to take the L.
This isn’t something that is going to keep him out all year. From what’s been updated here it’s almost identical to what Shane McClanahan is going through with TB. Neither is considered a long term setback.
Ken – Yeah I heard last night, great news.
It’s a sad parallel from when Bobby Jenks left the White Sox for Boston on the same 2 year year deal and injuries and a life threatening condition ended his career.
mwrherm0: Sadly, Jenks is dealing with another life-threatening condition. Hope he pulls through.
It’s a roster manipulation move. His poor spring made him a liability, but instead of cutting ties, the Sox stash him on the IL to delay tough decisions. This buys time to see if Chapman is sustainable while keeping bullpen depth intact. If Hendriks struggles post-IL, expect a “rehab assignment” that conveniently stretches until a DFA is justified.
Don’t count him out just yet. He’s come back from worst situations.
@avenger65:
His past comebacks don’t change current data: 14 hits in 6.1 innings, only 4 whiffs. Spring wasn’t a fluke; it exposed diminished stuff. The Sox aren’t banking on resilience—they’re using the IL to sidestep a $5M cut and test Chapman. No imaging reports suggest real injury; it’s a stall tactic until rehab stats justify a DFA.
@Clarence Thomas and the Yankees are Your Daddies
Your “Wrong” ignores the numbers. Hendriks gave up 14 hits in 6.1 innings this spring—over two hits per inning—with just 4 strikeouts. That’s not elbow inflammation; that’s lost effectiveness. The IL isn’t a recovery plan; it’s a $5M roster loophole to avoid cutting him now. Logic, not sentiment, drives this.
York – And you honestly think Liam would agree to faking an injury, especially during a contract year after chomping at the bit for so long to get back on the mound?
@Fever Pitch Guy
IL rules don’t require player consent, just a medical note, MLB’s IL rules don’t require player consent or even a visible limp; they only demand a medical diagnosis, which “elbow inflammation” satisfies—vague enough to be unprovable, precise enough to pass muster.
After the Yoshida stuff, I was going to agree with this.
But Cora mentioned that this issue popped up after his last outing, that he didn’t “bounce back” and his velocity has been down. I think the issue could be real, but they’d need to get some imaging done to prove it.
I feel like Liam would do anything to go out there and pitch, so I wouldn’t expect this to just be some phantom stint.
@york
Agree that liam had awful ST & sox probly tryna figure a way out
BUT
Hendriks also “received a cortisone injection to help alleviate some inflammation and discomfort stemming from a compressed nerve.”
Sounds a bit ominous
He needs more time. He’ll get it in Worcester.
Wow, you’re on a real roll today.
I think you’re barking and growling because the Yankees are boxed into a corner. There’s nowhere to go and death awaits the injured prey?
I just muted that stupid F.
Ryan Helsley.
There’s your answer.
No ffffff in way. Not possible!
I think there are guys like Hendricks that are beloved by the game, have an inspirational story and so a team steps up, knowing they might be cooked physically.
I feel like the Sox gave Hendricks a nice retirement bonus with that deal… and that his career is probably not going to move forward in any meaningful way as a player, unfortunately.
Didn’t see an update here: Hendricks has a compressed nerve and shouldn’t miss too much time.
Probably best outcome here. I was fearing a major issue.
Good to see there’s no damage to the elbow. Would be nice to see Hendriks take the mound in an MLB game even if it’s for the last time
I’d like to see Wil in the first half and Liam in the second half. I’m just not sure who Wil is yet.
Hendriks is finished
Slaten CL
Aroldis setup
Whitlock multiple inning lockdown
This guy is great. He is right about banning guns
Looks like Criswell is Plan 9
White Sox should be sued for allowing him to throw bullpens and long-toss while he was undergoing chemo and then rushing him back as soon as he was done with his treatment. He blew out his elbow about 5 minutes later….you’d think that medical professionals would be aware chemo wreaks havoc on your body.
To be fair, that could have been Hendriks powering through all of it for his own sense of self worth, his own competitive drive, etc.
As someone approaching 2 years of daily chemo regimens, I can tell you that I regularly seek to cling to anything I can do that feels ‘normal’ and connects back to the years before the leukemia set in.
Even when it requires overdoing things. Even when it leads to fatigue from that overexertion.
What’s more, I’ve had almost Liam’s path (except no remission) in that the wife decided after 16+ years she wanted nothing to do with a cancer patient about 13 months into treatment.
IMO, I know that had I been Hendricks id have really thrown myself into baseball related activities to help with things, and, I’m sure it was a huge help to him fighting through things. If anything, the organization should be commended for allowing him to do so to help him through those trying times, not condemned.
Man I’m sorry to hear that. People’s actions in the toughest times can shock you. But a lot of times the ones you’d least expect are the ones who step up to the plate and come through. Keep an eye out for those people…they are the ones you want around.
But 2 years running…that’s a war man. Keep fighting it. Whatcha sporting on the diagnosis? Same as Liam?
Thanks Yanks, but nope, we both had white cell blood cancers but that’s where the similarities end. He was a non-hodgkins lymphoma, I’ve got a myleoid version with some exotic sub-mutation that’s happened since.
I’m hoping for some good NYY-BOS postseason baseball this year, been too long since the rivalry meant much of anything.
Man I’d love that. Probably the last time I truly loved baseball was that 2000’s rivalry. It’s honestly the last time the Yankees still felt like the Yankees.
Wouldn’t mind being genuinely angry at the Sox again haha
I’ll root with you till a game 7 winner take all in the alcs, may we both be the last two standing in the circuit!
Chapman awarded the closer job out of spring training. Here we are opening day and who closed the game for the Sox? Slaten.
Chapman went out in the 8th because Seager was leading off the inning and he’s a LHB. Hitters 2,3,4 were due up. That is the situation where you use your best reliever.
If it was all RHB, maybe you see Slaten. Although I think that’s still a little unlikely unless Chapman needed rest or one of the guys hits him hard.
I think Cora did the right thing bringing Chapman in for the 8th. Those are the Rangers best hitters, that was when the game was really in the balance.
He’s missed 2 years, let’s just see what this year brings before saying he’s completely washed. He is basically on a flyer deal….