Liam Hendriks“Long-term to-do items on the injury list have been expanded through forearm tightening, Red Sox manager Alex Cora Telling Tim Healey of the Boston Globe and other journalists. The setback stopped Hendrix’s throwing, and his season was likely to end after 14 games and 13 2/3 innings at the major league level.
Forearm issues don’t bode well for Tommy John’s surgery to miss the 2024 season, but for now, this tight attack represents only the latest in a series of injuries, which has led to another virtual loss for Hendriks for a year. During spring training, he developed sore elbows, which delayed his 2025 campaign, with Hendriks not pitching since late May due to hip inflammation and abdominal pressure.
Between these two tenures at IL, Hendriks released 6.59 ERA in 13 2/3 frames in Boston. Since the start of the 2023 season, Hendriks has only thrown 18 2/3 of the total with the White Sox and Red Sox, which is 6.27 ERA. Hendriks returned in the early 2023 game against cancer before an elbow problem surfaced and led to his TJ program.
The Red Sox signed Hendriks’ two-year $10mm contract in the 2024 offseason, and Hendriks may miss the idea of recovering in 2024 and then return to health and prepare to donate this year. Unfortunately, it now looks like Boston’s Relief Term will end after just 14 games. Hendriks’ contract will naturally reject the 2026 12mm co-option, so Hendriks will receive a $2mm acquisition and re-enter the free agency.
Since Hendriks turned 37 in February, after all the turmoil of his past three seasons, it is up to doubt whether retirement will be in the card. That said, Hendrix certainly doesn’t want to go out in a low-key manner and is so determined to get back on the ground by 2025 that he seems to be looking for a minor league contract this winter unless this tight forearm tension gets worse.
