ARLINGTON, Texas — Fresh off an appointment with his orthopedic surgeon, Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks was upbeat about the elbow issues that landed him on the injured list earlier Thursday.
Hendriks, who was placed on the IL before Boston’s regular season opener against the Rangers with a previously undisclosed injury (deemed right elbow inflammation by the team), said his soreness was the result of a compressed nerve near his elbow, and nothing structural. During an appointment with Dr. Keith Meister earlier in the day, Hendriks was assured that his absence from the Red Sox bullpen won’t be a long one.
“It shouldn’t be too long of a layoff,” Hendriks said.
Hendriks received an injection to help the nerve issue and said he would be shut down from throwing for 3-5 days. His plan is to being playing catch again when the Red Sox travel to Baltimore for a series early next week and ramp back up from there. Hendriks did not have an MRI because doctors did not feel the issue is serious enough to necessitate one.
“It’s kind of a compressed nerve that had been building,” Hendriks explained. “I’ve had it for a while but had tried pitching through it and going through it but it wasn’t getting any better. My last live (batting practice session) was down a couple ticks from where I was as well. It’s something I’ve been battling through spring but my mindset is trying to pitch through things usually. Throw through it and it’ll get better, generally. It just hasn’t worked out thus far.”
Hendriks, who missed the first half of 2023 with the White Sox as he battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lasted just five innings that year before blowing out his elbow and undergoing Tommy John surgery in early August. He spent all of 2024 rehabbing as a member of the Red Sox and got close to being activated before irritation in his elbow reason caused things to slow down in September. With the Red Sox out of the race, Hendriks was shut down and never threw a pitch in the majors.
The 36-year-old had a fully healthy offseason and entered spring training in a competition to be the team’s closer. In Florida, Hendriks struggled mightily — he logged a 9.95 ERA (7 earned runs on 14 hits) in 6 ⅓ innings over seven games — and the Sox chose to name Aroldis Chapman their closer. It became evident to Hendriks in his last couple spring outings that his arm wasn’t as sharp as it had been in his prime, largely due to a lack of extension.
“Let’s hope,” said Hendriks when asked if the nerve issue contributed to his poor performance. “There were a lot of struggles in spring. There were a lot of swings there that were atypical from what I’m used to getting. It goes into that. This gives me a chance to settle, let this thing die down and get back to where I need to.
“It’s nothing permanent. Nothing structurally wrong. It’s just a little bit of soreness in there that was bugging me, especially on extension. When I was throwing in spring training, even 95-96 (mph) it was still not the same vibe as what I had previously.”
Earlier in the day, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said he believed the injury was a minor one. For now, Hendriks will take a couple days to regroup, then begin working again toward his long-awaited Red Sox debut.
“You run through the doubts and stuff like that but the skin (graft) looks fine and everything on this side of the elbow looks great, on the inside where the surgery was. It was just a little bit on the outside which is somewhat common for guys who have gone through (Tommy John).”
