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Liam Hendriks

Looking Ahead To Club Options: AL East

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MLBTR wraps our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the AL East. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central, AL Central, NL East

Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore signed Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM free agent deal over the winter. He’s making $9MM this season and has a matching club option or a $1MM buyout for 2026. Kittredge was supposed to be a key setup man in front of Félix Bautista, but he suffered a left knee injury early in camp and required a debridement surgery. He began a rehab stint at High-A Aberdeen on Sunday. While there’s plenty of time for Kittredge to turn things around, it hasn’t been the start to his O’s tenure that he envisioned.

Laureano, who was non-tendered by the Braves, signed a $4MM contract with Baltimore in February. That came with a $6.5MM team option without a buyout, giving the Orioles an extra season of club control. Injuries to Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser have pressed him into everyday work, mostly in left field. He hasn’t provided much through his first 24 games. Laureano is hitting .185 with a .237 on-base percentage through 59 plate appearances. He has hit a trio of home runs but struck out 18 times while drawing only four walks. Laureano has generally been a below-average hitter since being suspended following a positive PED test in 2021. He’ll need much better production over the next few months for the Orioles to exercise the option.

Boston Red Sox

Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal to match the price of the qualifying offer — which the Dodgers had declined to issue when he hit the market. It’s a relatively expensive pillow contract. Buehler was coming off a dismal regular season, in which he’d posted a 5.38 ERA with a career-worst 18.6% strikeout rate over 16 starts. He finished his Dodger tenure on a high note, though, closing out the World Series while pitching to a 3.60 earned run average in 15 playoff innings.

An ace-caliber pitcher early in his career, Buehler hasn’t looked the same since undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in August 2022. His stint in Boston has gotten out to a shaky start. While his 4.28 ERA through 33 2/3 innings is serviceable, he’s striking out just 20.7% of opponents while averaging a personal-low 93.5 MPH on his fastball. Shoulder inflammation sent him to the injured list last week. The mutual option was always an accounting measure designed to push the $3MM buyout to the end of the year rather than disbursing it throughout the season as salary. The team seems likelier to decline its end than the pitcher does.

Giolito signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal during the 2023-24 offseason. He negotiated an opt-out clause after the first season and hoped to retest the market after one strong year. Instead, Giolito’s elbow gave out during Spring Training and he required UCL surgery that cost him the entire season. The veteran righty made the easy decision to stick around for year two.

By exercising his player option, Giolito unlocked a 2026 option for the team. It’s valued at $14MM and comes with a $1.5MM buyout. If Giolito pitches 140 innings this year, it’d convert to a $19MM mutual option (still with the $1.5MM buyout). That’d give him a chance to test free agency if he wants. Giolito has an uphill battle to 140 frames. A hamstring strain cost him the first month of the season. He finally made his team debut last week, working six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts in a no-decision against Toronto. The Rangers tagged him for six runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 frames tonight.

The Red Sox added Hendriks on a two-year, $10MM deal over the 2023-24 offseason. They knew they wouldn’t get much in year one, as Hendriks had undergone Tommy John surgery the prior August. He attempted to make a late-season return last year but was shut down after a minor flare-up of elbow discomfort. Elbow inflammation shelved him for a couple weeks to begin this season, though he made his team debut in mid-April.

Hendriks allowed two runs on three hits in one inning during his first appearance. He has rattled off five straight scoreless outings since then, albeit with four walks in five frames. His 95 MPH average fastball is solid but below the 97-98 range at which he sat during his elite seasons with the White Sox.

Note: Jarren Duran’s arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with an $8MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Sox decline the option.

New York Yankees

  • Tim Hill, LHP ($3MM club option, $350K buyout)

Hill finished last season with the Yankees after being released by the White Sox in June. He’d allowed nearly six earned runs per nine with Chicago but managed a tidy 2.05 ERA over 44 frames for New York. He’s out to a similarly productive start to the ’25 season. Hill has surrendered five runs through 17 1/3 innings (2.60 ERA).

While the soft-tossing lefty has managed just 11 strikeouts, his game has always been built around ground-balls. He’s getting grounders at a massive 81.6% clip thus far. Only nine of the 40 batted balls he’s allowed have been hit into the air. It’s easily the highest grounder rate in the majors. The Yankees value this skillset as much as any team, and the $2.65MM option decision is a drop in the bucket for them.

Loáisiga is still working back from last April’s elbow surgery. The righty has generally been a productive reliever when healthy, but he’s only once managed even 50 MLB innings in a season. He’s on a rehab stint with Low-A Tampa and will need another few weeks before he’s built into MLB game shape. Loáisiga is making $5MM this season. The option has a matching base value and could climb by another $500K if the Yankees exercise it. He’d earn $100K each at reaching 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 innings in 2026.

Tampa Bay Rays

Fairbanks is in the final guaranteed season of the three-year, $12MM extension that he signed before the 2023 campaign. That includes a $1MM buyout on a club option that comes with a $7MM base value. That’s a bargain for a quality high-leverage reliever, but the deal includes various escalators that could push the option price above $12MM.

The option value would climb by $500K if he gets to 125 combined appearances between 2023-25 and another $1MM apiece at 135, 150 and 165 combined outings. Fairbanks made it into 95 games over the first two seasons. He’d trigger the first $500K escalator at just 30 appearances this year and would max it out if he makes it into 70 games. He can boost the option price by another $2MM based on this year’s games finished total: $500K apiece at 25, 30, 35 and 40.

Fairbanks has never reached 50 appearances in a season because of various injuries, but he’s already at 14 games through this season’s first six weeks. Fairbanks has finished 11 of those contests while working as Kevin Cash’s primary closer. He has recorded 13 strikeouts against six walks while allowing three runs over 13 1/3 innings. The option price should remain solid value, though the escalators might eventually push it to an area where Tampa Bay would rather explore deadline or offseason trades rather than having a reliever projecting as one of the highest-paid players on the roster.

Jansen seemed to be pulling away from the rest of a weak free agent catching class early last season. His production tanked from June onwards, leaving him to sign an $8.5MM pillow contract with Tampa Bay. He’s making an $8MM salary and will collect a $500K buyout on a $12MM mutual option at year’s end. Last summer’s offensive drought has carried into 2025. Jansen has only one home run with a .147/.301/.221 batting line through 83 plate appearances. He remains a very patient hitter, but the Rays would have an easy decision to decline their end of the option if he doesn’t find the double-digit home run power he showed during his best seasons in Toronto.

Lowe has had a rare extended run with a Tampa Bay team that is almost always willing to trade any player. He’s in his eighth big league season and in year seven of the extension he signed in Spring Training 2019. Lowe collected $24MM for what would have been his standard six seasons of team control. The Rays exercised a $10.5MM option for this year and can retain him once more at an $11.5MM price. It’s an $11MM decision after accounting for the $500K buyout.

While injuries have been a recurring issue, Lowe has been one of the better offensive middle infielders in the sport when healthy. His 39-homer season in 2021 is an outlier, but he has tallied 21 longballs in each of the past two seasons. He’s out to a much slower start this year, batting .203/.258/.305 with four homers across 128 plate appearances. The batted ball metrics are still solid, but his career-worst 20.1% swinging strike rate is the fifth-highest among hitters with at least 50 PAs.

This one can still go a few different ways. If Lowe hits like this all season, he’d be bought out. If he finds something like his 2023-24 form (.238/.319/.458), then $11MM is reasonable. It’d keep him as one of Tampa Bay’s highest-paid players, though, so there’s a decent chance he’ll be traded at some point this year. The 16-18 Rays look like fringe Wild Card contenders for a second consecutive year. They could again try to walk the line between buying and selling come deadline season.

The Rays signed Waguespack to a restructured deal early last offseason. He’s making $1.3MM this season and has a $1.5MM club option for next year. That’d escalate to $2MM if he reaches 20 “points” this season. Waguespack would receive one point for each MLB relief appearance and two points per big league start. He has spent the ’25 season to date on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham.

Working as a pure reliever for the Bulls, Waguespack has reeled off 14 innings of two-run ball. He has fanned 15 hitters against three walks while getting ground-balls at a lofty 60% clip. It hasn’t earned him a major league call yet, but he should be up before too much longer if he keeps performing at that level. Waguespack spent the 2022-23 seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. He made four MLB appearances with Tampa Bay last year but lost a good portion of the season to a rotator cuff injury.

Note: Taylor Walls’ arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with a $2.45MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Rays decline the option.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • None

Red Sox Activate Liam Hendriks

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TODAY: The Red Sox officially announced Hendriks’ reinstatement from the injured list, and Dobbins was indeed optioned to Triple-A.

APRIL 18: Liam Hendriks looks to be in line for his Red Sox debut this weekend. Manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Ian Browne of MLB.com) that there’s a “good chance” the veteran reliever will be activated from the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Chris Cotillo of MassLive observes that righty Hunter Dobbins is preparing to head back to Triple-A Worcester after being recalled this afternoon. It seems he’ll be optioned in the corresponding move.

Hendriks has not pitched in an MLB regular season game since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2023. That ended his time with the White Sox, as Chicago bought out a $15MM club option with Hendriks set to miss most or all of the ’24 season. The Red Sox added Hendriks on a backloaded two-year deal with a $10MM guarantee. He made $2MM to finish his rehab last year and is playing on a $6MM salary this season (plus a $2MM buyout on a ’26 mutual option).

The three-time All-Star tried to make it back last September. Hendriks made six minor league rehab appearances, but the Sox backed off his progression when he felt some arm discomfort. He struggled over seven Spring Training outings and landed back on the injured list with elbow inflammation to begin the season. Hendriks was shut down for a few days and received a cortisone shot, but there wasn’t any kind of structural damage. He started a rehab stint last Thursday.

Hendriks has worked three scoreless innings in as many appearances between the top two minor league levels. He has fanned five while issuing two walks. His fastball averaged 94 MPH during his Triple-A work. It’s a nice rebound from the rocky exhibition play, when he allowed seven runs over 6 1/3 frames.

Entering camp, Hendriks seemed the favorite to replace Kenley Jansen as Boston’s closer. Aroldis Chapman had a much better Spring Training to take hold of the ninth inning. Chapman is 4-4 in save opportunities and has only allowed one run over 7 1/3 frames, so he’ll remain the closer. Hendriks will join Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock as setup options from the right side.

Red Sox Place Liam Hendriks On 15-Day IL

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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.

Red Sox Notes: Houck, Newcomb, Fulmer, Chapman

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The Red Sox haven’t approached right-hander Tanner Houck about a contract extension this spring, Houck himself tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The 28-year-old adds that he’s open to such talks and would be happy to stay in Boston long-term — “I love it here” — but isn’t concerning himself with the lack of extension talks at present.

Houck reached arbitration for the first time this offseason and agreed on a $3.95MM salary to avoid a hearing. That contract came on the back of a breakout 2024 season wherein he pitched a career-high 178 2/3 innings with a 3.12 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate, 55.9% grounder rate and 0.55 HR/9 over the life of 30 starts. After having floated between the bullpen in rotation in recent seasons, that career-best performance cemented Houck’s spot in Boston’s rotation.

Injuries to Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito only further locked Houck into a prominent rotation role. He’ll likely take the ball in the Red Sox’ second game, behind Opening Day starter Garrett Crochet. The rest of the rotation looks a bit different than most would’ve expected heading into camp. Free-agent signee Walker Buehler is locked into a spot, but there’s been a competition for the final two outings that’s taken place as health troubles have arisen.

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic wrote earlier in the week that right-hander Richard Fitts looked to have the fourth spot in the rotation locked up. The 25-year-old Fitts, acquired from the Yankees in the trade sending Alex Verdugo to the Bronx, has allowed only one run in 10 2/3 official spring innings. He’s punched out 13 of his 31 opponents (31.7%) against four walks (9.8%). Fitts posted a 4.17 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate in 116 2/3 Triple-A innings last year and also made a brief MLB debut, pitching 20 2/3 frames with a 1.74 ERA (in spite of a paltry 10.6% strikeout rate in the majors).

More surprisingly, McCaffrey listed veteran Sean Newcomb as a strong candidate to earn the fifth spot. MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith suggests the same, writing that manager Alex Cora said the veteran lefty has “caught our eyes” with an impressive spring of his own. Newcomb, a Massachusetts native, has held opponents to one run on five hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings. Unlike many veterans around the league on non-roster invitations, Newcomb does not have an opt-out in his contract before the end of camp, Smith notes, so the Sox don’t need to worry about losing him if they opt for someone already on the 40-man roster, such as righty Quinn Priester.

Similarly, veteran reliever Michael Fulmer tells WEEI’s Rob Bradford that his minor league deal with Boston does not have an opt-out opportunity. The former AL Rookie of the Year signed a two-year minor league deal with the Sox in the 2023-24 offseason as he rehabbed from a UCL revision performed in Oct. 2023.

Fulmer didn’t pitch last year while rehabbing that procedure, but the 32-year-old has been outstanding this spring. He’s tossed 9 1/3 innings and held opponents to one run on nine hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. The fact that he can’t opt out is a bit of a strike against his Opening Day chances, particularly if the Sox want to carry a long reliever to support their diminished rotation, but Fulmer has put himself in a nice position to either break camp with the team or get an early-season look.

At the other end of the bullpen, Boston’s ninth-inning picture has been a question for much of the spring. The hope was surely that Liam Hendriks would look closer to vintage form and claim that role as he enters the second season of a two-year contract, but it’s lefty Aroldis Chapman who’s emerged as the favorite for ninth-inning work, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com writes. Chapman has impressed the Sox with the quality of his raw stuff and has set down 10 of his 23 spring opponents on strikes. Hendriks has been tagged for six runs in five spring frames. Righty Justin Slaten also appears to be ahead of Hendriks on the closer depth chart — at least for the time being.

Certainly, that’s subject to change as the season wears on. Changes in the ninth inning are common, particularly when the frontrunner is a 37-year-old with persistent command issues and a recent injury history of note. Hendriks, Slaten or someone else entirely could wind up handling the bulk of the ninth-inning workload for skipper Alex Cora, but it sounds like Chapman will get first crack, thereby giving him a chance to become just the 14th pitcher in MLB history to tally 350 saves. He currently ranks 16th all-time, sitting just six saves behind Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers.

Lucas Giolito Expects To Be Ready For Opening Day

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Lucas Giolito is going into what he hopes will be a rebound year. His first season with the Red Sox was wiped out by a Spring Training elbow injury that required an internal brace procedure to repair his UCL.

The internal brace is generally a less invasive operation than a full Tommy John surgery. That can shave a few months off the projected recovery timeline. Giolito underwent his surgery in the middle of March. With Spring Training opening one year later, the right-hander expects to be on the mound in exhibition play.

“I’m going to be ready for a full Spring Training and a full season,” Giolito told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. “I find it funny when I see stuff online saying that I’ll be coming back in June. I don’t know where that came from. I have no idea. … Everything’s going great. I look forward to a full year.”

Giolito said he is towards the tail end of his rehab process at the team’s complex in Fort Myers. He indicated he expects to progress to throwing off a mound soon. Giolito added that teammate Garrett Whitlock, who underwent the same procedure in late May, is at a similar stage in his own rehab work.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke with reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) this morning. Breslow wasn’t as firm as Giolito had been about the pitcher being ready for the start of exhibition play, but he said that the team indeed expects to have both Giolito and Whitlock available for “the bulk of 2025 if not all of it.” Breslow added that reliever Liam Hendriks, who’ll be a year and a half removed from August ’23 Tommy John surgery, will be a full go for Spring Training. That’s the expected outcome, as Hendriks had a chance to return at the end of this past season before minor arm discomfort led the Sox to shut him down in September.

Giolito conceded that he may need to compete for a rotation spot in what is shaping up as a new-look pitching staff. The Sox have added Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler this offseason. They’re likely to lose Nick Pivetta, who remains unsigned after rejecting a qualifying offer. Crochet and Buehler join Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford in the projected starting five. If Boston prefers to open the year with a five-man rotation, Giolito (assuming he’s indeed on track for Opening Day) may compete with Crawford for the #5 job. Crawford has experience working out of the bullpen but took all 33 turns through the rotation this year.

In any case, the Sox will likely need to rely on all six pitchers to start games over the course of a 162-game schedule. Whitlock, who has yet to reach 80 MLB innings in a season, could be a candidate to head back to the bullpen. Boston moved Whitlock into the rotation to start the ’24 campaign, but he went on the injured list with an oblique strain after four appearances. He injured his elbow during a minor league rehab assignment. Given the durability questions, a return to a two- or three-inning relief role may be appropriate.

Giolito will play next season on a $19MM player option. The Red Sox hold a $14MM club option for the 2026 season. Giolito would convert that to a mutual option valued at $19MM if he’s able to log 140 innings next year. If he opens the year on the active roster, that’s a reasonable target even though he didn’t pitch this past season. Durability had been one of the righty’s biggest pluses coming into this year. Giolito had made 29+ starts in each of the preceding five full schedules. He tossed a career-high 184 1/3 innings with a combined 4.88 earned run average between the White Sox, Angels and Guardians in 2023.

Red Sox Likely To Shut Liam Hendriks Down For The Season

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TODAY: Hendriks will receive a cortisone shot on Monday and then resume throwing mid-week, he told the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.  While he admitted his chances of pitching may hinge on how the Red Sox are faring in the playoff race, “the door’s not closed” on Hendriks appearing on the mound in 2024.  “It’s normal to have a hiccup.  It’s normal having to have little things like that, but it’s frustrating at how late it happened in the process,” Hendriks said.

SEPT 12: It seems Liam Hendriks’ debut with the Red Sox will wait until 2025. Manager Alex Cora said before tonight’s extra-inning loss in the Bronx that the Sox are “probably … going to shut him down” from throwing (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). Boston pulled the veteran reliever off his minor league rehab assignment last week when Hendriks reported arm discomfort.

The three-time All-Star has been working back from an August 2023 Tommy John surgery that ended his time with the White Sox. Cora indicated that Hendriks’ recent discomfort is on the outside of his forearm rather than in the elbow. An MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage and the team believes the issue is normal soreness related to his build-up after a long layoff.

While there doesn’t seem to be any long-term concern, the calendar doesn’t offer Hendriks time for even a minor setback. There are 17 days left in the regular season. Boston’s loss tonight dropped them 4.5 games back of the American League’s last Wild Card spot. It’s probably too risky to ask Hendriks to push through minor forearm discomfort to aid a long shot playoff chase.

Hendriks signed a two-year, $10MM free agent deal early in Spring Training. It’s a backloaded contract that follows the typical structure for a pitcher rehabbing a major arm surgery. Hendriks made $2MM this season and is set for a $6MM base salary next year. He’s guaranteed a $2MM buyout on a mutual option for 2026. The Aussie could unlock up to $10MM more via incentives next season depending on his innings and games finished totals.

The latter category would take on particular importance if Hendriks opens next season as Cora’s closer. He’d secure $1MM apiece for every fifth game finished between 45 and 65 contests. Hendriks led the American League with 38 saves for Chicago back in 2021. He saved another 37 games the next season. Hendriks would’ve filled a middle relief or setup role had he gotten back on the mound this year. The ninth inning could be there for the taking next spring.

Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin are concluding two-year deals signed when Chaim Bloom was chief baseball officer. Both pitchers have been effective, but the Sox could let them each walk in free agency. Boston reportedly tried to find a trade partner for Jansen both before Opening Day and at times in the season’s first half. It looks unlikely they’ll re-sign him. Martin seems to have a better chance of returning, but he has a lot less closing experience than Hendriks brings. Deadline acquisitions Lucas Sims and Luis García are also headed to the market.

First-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, a former reliever, has hit on a couple unheralded bullpen pickups. Rule 5 pick Justin Slaten has had an excellent rookie season and should be ticketed for high-leverage work. Greg Weissert, acquired in the Alex Verdugo deal, has been solid. There’ll surely be a few acquisitions in the offseason. Boston isn’t going to let each of Jansen, Martin, Sims and García walk without bringing in some kind of veteran help. The next few months should clarify whether Hendriks will go into 2025 as Boston’s closer.

In any case, he’ll certainly be in the late-inning mix if he stays healthy. Hendriks getting back to peak form would be a fantastic story not only for Boston but for baseball as a whole. Last year’s surgery interrupted a triumphant return to the mound after Hendriks beat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The ’25 season could be his opportunity to reemerge as one of the game’s best relievers.

AL East Notes: Bichette, Kjerstad, Hendriks

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Bo Bichette is scheduled to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment beginning on Tuesday, the Blue Jays told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and Arden Zwelling).  Bichette has been on the injured list since suffering a right calf strain on July 19, which was the third calf-related issue for Bichette within about a month’s time.  It wasn’t clear at the time of the placement if Bichette would be able to return before the season was over or if the Jays might just shut him down, but it looks like the shortstop should be able to make it back for at least a bit more action before the 2024 campaign wraps.

While the Jays are well out of contention, returning to the field should provide some peace of mind for Bichette about his health as he wraps up the worst season of his six-year career.  The two-time All-Star hit only .222/.275/.320 over 331 plate appearances, delivering a 69 wRC+ that was far below his previous career mark of 127.  Bichette’s turn from star to replacement-level player was one of many reasons behind the Jays’ rough season, and it has raised fresh speculation about Bichette’s long-term future in Toronto, or even if he’ll still be a Blue Jay by next Opening Day.  These questions obviously won’t be answered in the small sample size of however many MLB games Bichette is able to play in September, but returning to the Jays lineup and hitting like his old self would allow him to take something positive from an otherwise lost year.

Other updates from around the AL East…

  • The Orioles announced that Heston Kjerstad will start a rehab assignment at the team’s A-ball affiliate in Aberdeen beginning tomorrow.  Kjerstad has been on the concussion-related injury list since August 1, marking his second stint on the concussion-IL since he was hit in the head by a Clay Holmes pitch on July 12.  The good news is that Kjerstad has cleared concussion protocol and now looks ready to return to action.  Now in his second MLB season, the former top prospect has continued to show glimpses of his potential with a .261/.370/.420 slash line in 81 plate appearances with Baltimore this season, and a healthy Kjerstad could provide a nice boost for the O’s heading into the playoffs.
  • Liam Hendriks was slated to throw back-to-back outings as part of his ongoing minor rehab assignment, though the Red Sox and the reliever have pulled back on the idea since Hendriks is feeling some slight discomfort.  “There was a little bit of an issue [in the elbow], but nothing that can’t be worked out,” Hendriks told the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams and other reporters.  “I think I need to limit my own throwing….The muscle groups right there aren’t quite built up to withstand that just yet.  I need to kind of ease them in a little bit better.”  Hendriks and manager Alex Cora downplayed the setback, and the hope is that Hendriks will be able to make it back to the Red Sox roster before the season is over.  Hendriks hasn’t pitched in the majors since June 2023, as a Tommy John surgery in August of that year has put his career on hold.

Red Sox Notes: Hamilton, Story, Hendriks, Martin

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The Red Sox placed infielder David Hamilton on the 10-day injured list yesterday due to a left index finger fracture, which he suffered on a bunt single the day before. He told reporters that the timetable would be four to six weeks but that he’s hoping to get that down to two to three weeks, which would be based on his pain tolerance. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic was among those who relayed the info on X.

The Sox have had a rotating cast of characters covering second base this year. They had planned on giving the gig to Vaughn Grissom after acquiring him from Atlanta for Chris Sale in the winter. But Grissom has been injured or struggling for most of the year, which opened the spot for others. Apart from Grissom, ten different players have seen at least a bit of action at the keystone for Boston this year.

No one really took hold of the job but Hamilton arguably performed the best of the group. His .248/.303/.395 batting line this year only translates to a 91 wRC+, indicating he’s been 9% below average, but he’s stolen 33 bases in 37 tries and has played both middle infield positions. His work at shortstop hasn’t been graded well but he has nine Defensive Runs Saved and three Outs Above Average at second. Overall, FanGraphs considers him to have been worth 1.6 wins above replacement on the year.

He may not get a chance to alter those numbers in the wake of his injury. The four-to-six-week timeline would essentially wipe out his regular season at this point. Even if he has a chance to come back quicker, that would probably require the Sox to stay in the race. They are currently 3.5 games back of a playoff spot. If they fall back in the coming weeks, there wouldn’t be much point in rushing Hamilton back before he’s 100% healthy.

For now, the Sox will likely keep the carousel of players going through the keystone, with Nick Sogard, Romy González and Mickey Gasper some of the options on the roster. Perhaps they will recall Grissom at some point, though he’s currently getting regular playing time at Triple-A Worcester.

Another X-factor in the club’s middle infield plans will be Trevor Story, who is trying to return to the club before the season is done. He has been trying to come back from April shoulder surgery that was initially thought to be season-ending and tells Rob Bradford of WEEI (X link) that a rehab assignment will be his next step, though he didn’t provide a specific date for starting that rehab.

Even if Story does return to the Sox this year, it’s anyone’s guess what form he will be in. The Sox signed him to a six-year, $140MM deal going into 2022 but haven’t received much on that investment yet. He has missed significant time due to various ailments, including this year’s shoulder surgery and last year’s elbow surgery. He has only appeared in 145 games for the Sox since signing that deal and has hit just .227/.288/.394 in his 598 plate appearances.

It’s fair to conclude that the lack of health has played a big role in tamping down his production, but that also means there might still be some rust if he returns to the club in the next few weeks. Still, it could be good for the long term if he gets some playing time under his feet before the winter. He’s still a big part of the club’s future, with three years remaining on that deal. Ceddanne Rafaela has been playing shortstop of late but he’s not hitting much and still has options. He could be sent down to the minors or perhaps be bumped into a utility role since he’s also a capable outfielder.

Turning to the pitching staff, right-hander Liam Hendriks could be back in the majors soon. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery last year but has started a rehab assignment and made four appearances in the minors this month. He tells Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that he’s targeting a return next weekend.

Now 35, Hendriks has been on quite a tumultuous journey in recent years. He missed the start of the 2023 season while dealing with a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After beating cancer, he returned to the mound with the White Sox but only made five appearances before requiring the aforementioned surgery. The Sox signed him in the offseason to a two-year deal with a $10MM guarantee and another $10MM in incentives, knowing that they probably wouldn’t get much out of the righty in the first season.

That was a logical step for the Sox as Hendriks was dominant prior to this odyssey. From 2019 to 2022, he made 226 appearances with a 2.26 earned run average, 38.8% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate. On top of that, both Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin are set to hit free agency after 2024, so signing Hendriks in the winter was a preemptive move to address the 2025 bullpen ahead of schedule.

It’s also possible that Martin could be back. He tells the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast (X link) that he’s planning on pitching again next year, in what would be his age-39 season, as long as he feels good through the end of the current campaign. He also spoke positively of the Red Sox organization and seemed open to a return.

Martin and the Sox signed a two-year, $17.5MM deal heading into 2023. He has thrown 86 2/3 innings over the course of that deal with a 1.77 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate, 48.1% ground ball rate and tiny 2.9% walk rate. Given the continued strong results, he figures to get strong interest from the Sox or any other club around the league if he wants to keep his career going.

Red Sox Notes: Casas, Hendriks, Mata

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In an odd moment of miscommunication earlier this month, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas told reporters earlier this month that he had begun to take dry swings while rehabbing torn cartilage in his midsection. That was exciting news regarding the 24-year-old’s progress, but MassLive’s Sean McAdam noted earlier this week that Casas’s previous comments do not appear to have been entirely accurate.

“Oh, no, just in my mind,” Casas said (as relayed by McAdam) when asked to elaborate on his previous comments about taking swings. “Without a bat, just in my head. I’ve taken thousands of at-bats like that. I feel great.”

Despite Casas’s previously reported step towards swinging a bat apparently having been entirely imaginary, McAdam noted that the slugger had truly resumed swinging on Wednesday, when he swung a bat 20 times after an MRI the previous day revealed that his ribcage had healed properly. As noted by MassLive’s Christopher Smith earlier today, manager Alex Cora told reporters that Casas has subsequently ramped up to 30 swings and is feeling some “general soreness” as he kicks back into gear and prepares for his return to the majors. Cora went on to suggest that the soreness may not impact Casas’s timeline much, adding that he might resume swinging as soon as tomorrow and could continue to do some baseball activity today. Despite the soreness not being much of an issue, however, Cora suggested that it’s unlikely that the first baseman will return to action in the majors before the All Star break.

Thats not necessarily shocking, given the fact that Casas hasn’t seen game action since late April and will surely need a rehab assignment to get back up to speed. While that post-All Star break target is a far cry from the July 2nd date Casas floated for his return earlier this month, its not necessarily surprising that he would be about two weeks behind that schedule given the fact that he didn’t start swinging a bat until about two weeks after he first indicated he was resuming doing so.

Regardless of the unusual situation, Casas’s return is sure to provide a shot in the arm for a Red Sox club that has enjoyed a 10-4 record over their last 14 games. Despite that strong recent performance vaulting them firmly into the AL Wild Card mix alongside teams like the Royals and Twins, Boston’s offense has posted a relatively pedestrian wRC+ of just 102 since Casas went down with injury, and Dominic Smith has slashed a paltry .209/.308/.317 (78 wRC+) in 47 games filling in for Casas at first base. That’s a far cry from the production the young slugger offered when healthy in the first month of the season, as Casas will boast a .244/.344/.513 slash line on the season when he returns to the lineup, although that came in a sample size of just 90 trips to the plate.

Casas isn’t the only potentially impactful piece who’s on the road to recovery from injury. Veteran closer Liam Hendriks, who the Red Sox signed to a two-year, $10MM guarantee over the winter, underwent Tommy John surgery back in August of last year when he was still a member of the White Sox but has long been targeting a return to the big league mound around or shortly after this year’s trade deadline, which has been set for July 30. Hendriks has been making solid progress in that pursuit, as Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reported that after throwing a 15-pitch bullpen session earlier this week he followed it up with a 20-pitch bullpen yesterday. McCaffrey added that Hendriks said that he was “feeling good” following yesterday’s and that the plan is for him to move up from two bullpen sessions to three next week before determining next steps beyond that.

Seeing as Hendriks has already resumed throwing, it seems likely that he would be on pace to return sometime in August as previously expected. While the 35-year-old was limited to just five innings of work last year between his aforementioned Tommy John surgery and a battle with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that caused him to miss the first half of the season, the veteran hurler has long been regarded as one of the league’s top bullpen arms. From 2019 to 2022, Hendriks pitched to a sensational 2.26 ERA (188 ERA+) and 2.13 FIP while striking out an eye-popping 38.8% of batters faced in a combined 239 innings of work. Adding a player with that sort of resume to a bullpen that’s already employs Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin in the late innings could make for a lethal three-headed monster at the back of the Red Sox bullpen down the stretch if Hendriks is able to stay on track and return healthy.

Joining Hendriks in working his way back from a largely lost 2023 season is right-hander Bryan Mata, who pitched just 27 innings last year due to a strained teres major muscle. The right-hander and former top prospect for the Red Sox has yet to make his big league debut, but is a particularly interesting case given the fact that he is out of options and will need to either be added to the club’s active roster or subjected to waivers once healthy enough to return to action. It’s long been considered unlikely that Mata would clear waivers without being claimed by another club, meaning that 30 days after Mata begins a rehab assignment, the Red Sox will need to make a decision regarding his future in the organization.

As noted by Smith earlier this afternoon, Mata began a rehab assignment for the club earlier this month and reached the Triple-A level on Thursday. The right-hander impressed in 2 2/3 innings of work as his fastball reached 97.8 mph, though he surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk during the appearance. He’ll follow that performance up with another rehab start with Worcester this coming Tuesday. That pattern figures to continue for the remainder of his rehab assignment, as Cora told reporters (including Smith) that the club plans to keep Mata on a starter’s schedule but limit him two or three innings per appearance.

While Mata hasn’t enjoyed much success amid injury-marred campaigns in 2023 and 2024, it’s not hard to see why the Red Sox would want to keep the righty in the fold. After all, it was just two seasons ago when the youngster dazzled with 83 innings of work spread across four levels of the minors that saw him post a 2.49 ERA while striking out 30.3% of batters faced. If he can post anything close to those numbers in the majors, even in a bullpen role, he would surely be a valuable asset to the Red Sox as they attempt to chase their first playoff appearance since 2021.

Red Sox Select Joely Rodriguez, Naoyuki Uwasawa

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The Red Sox announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Joely Rodriguez and right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa — the latter of whom was just acquired from the Rays yesterday. Rodriguez will head straight to the MLB roster, while Uwasawa has been optioned to extended spring training. Righty Liam Hendriks (recovering from Tommy John surgery) and southpaw Chris Murphy (UCL sprain) have been placed on the 60-day IL to create 40-man roster space. Boston also placed righty Bryan Mata (hamstring strain) on the 15-day IL and placed infielder Vaughn Grissom (hamstring strain) and utilityman Rob Refsnyder (broken toe) on the 10-day IL.

Rodriguez, 32, was with the Sox in 2023 but pitched just 11 innings due to oblique, shoulder and hip injuries that combined to result in three different stints on the injured list. He posted a 6.55 ERA in his short time on the mound, striking out 27.5% of his opponents against an 11.8% walk rate and 45.2% ground-ball rate. He re-signed with the Sox on a minor league deal and turned in a strong showing this spring, holding opponents to a pair of runs on nine hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings of relief. He also recorded a massive 61.9% ground-ball rate.

Looking beyond last year’s struggles, Rodriguez has a decent track record in recent years. From 2020-22, Rodriguez pitched 109 1/3 frames between the Rangers, Yankees and Mets, working to a 4.28 ERA with even more encouraging secondary marks. Rodriguez fanned 25.5% of his opponents in that time and induced grounders at a huge 55.7% clip. His 10.3% walk rate was still a couple ticks north of the league average, but the lefty offered an enticing blend of missed bats and grounders while excelling at keeping the ball in the park (0.58 HR/9). Metrics like FIP (3.14) and SIERA (3.51) were rather bullish on his work.

Uwasawa, 30, has a long track record of success in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but inked a minor league pact with the Rays over the winter. He most recently tossed 170 innings with a 2.96 ERA in NPB, though that strong mark was accompanied by a lackluster 17.8% strikeout rate and sub-par velocity. Last September, MLBTR contributor Dai Takegami Podziewski noted that Uwasawa’s fastball velocity was averaging 90.8 mph during the 2023 NPB season. Uwasawa does boast a strong 7.5% walk rate, which dropped as low as 5.9% in 2023, but he’s generally viewed as a soft-tossing finesse pitcher.

It was a rocky spring for Uwasawa, who was torched for seven runs in two innings during his debut with the Rays. He had one more rough outing and a pair of solid appearances, and the Sox got a first-hand look at him as they were his opponent in two of his four official spring outings. Uwasawa finished up his Grapefruit League campaign with a grisly 13.03, thanks largely to that first meltdown, but his track record in Japan and low cost of acquisition make him a reasonable enough flier for a Red Sox club that is thin on pitching depth after trading Chris Sale and seeing Lucas Giolito and the aforementioned Murphy go down with UCL injuries.

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