Former Chicago White Sox All-Star Readying for First MLB Game in Almost 2 Years

Reliever Liam Hendriks, now with the Boston Red Sox, pitched in his first rehab game at Triple-A Worcester.

Jami Leabow | Apr 11, 2025

Boston Red Sox Liam Hendriks (31) pitches during the third inning of their game against the New York Mets at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Fla., on March 2, 2025. / Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

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Liam Hendriks, a former All-Star reliever with the Chicago White Sox, is close to his return to major league action.

The right-hander hasn’t appeared in a regular-season MLB game since June 9, 2023, with the White Sox. He had Tommy John surgery two months later.

Hendriks signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Red Sox before the 2024 season, despite his lack of availability following surgery. He went to spring training with Boston this February but was sidelined after seven appearances with inflammation in his pitching elbow and started the season on the injured list.

Now, he’s at Triple-A Worcester on a rehab assignment, hoping to soon make that debut at Fenway Park as a member of the Red Sox.

According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Hendriks said he expects to pitch again Sunday after making his first rehab appearance on Thursday. In one inning against the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians), Hendriks worked as an opener and pitched one inning. He threw 18 pitches – 13 of them for strikes, allowed one hit and struck out three in Worcester’s 2-1 defeat.

His fastball hit 95.2 mph, per the report.

“I think I had more strikeouts today than I did all of spring training, which is nice,” Hendriks said. “Good thing was it felt good, but more importantly, location wise, it was a little better, it was a little easier to get to all of those pitches than it was in the spring.”

Hendriks found his Happy place🏌️‍♂️

1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cTwCiVVgFL
— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) April 10, 2025

Hendriks, 36, started his major league career in 2011 with the Minnesota Twins and since has pitched for the Kansas City Royals (2014), Toronto Blue Jays (2014-15), Oakland Athletics (2016-20) and White Sox (2021-23).

He is a three-time All-Star (2019, 2021, 2022) and twice has won the Mariano Rivera Award as the top reliever in the American League (2021, 2022). He has a career record of 33-34 with a 3.82 ERA in 476 appearances (33 starts) with 116 saves.

After the 2022 season, Hendriks announced he had been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After treatment, he was declared cancer-free and returned to pitch in 2023. Despite being limited to just five games because of his arm injury, he was named AL Comeback Player of the Year.

A fan favorite in Chicago, Hendriks undoubtedly will receive well wishes from White Sox fans in 2025.

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