Chicago White Sox Closer Liam Hendriks Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks has undergone successful Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, the team announced Wednesday evening.
Hendriks is expected to be out for 12 to 14 months, suggesting that not only will he miss the rest of the 2023 season, but possibly the entire 2024 season as well.
Before hitting the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation on June 11, Hendriks was 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and one save in 2023. He didn't make his season debut until May 29, though, as he was battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma through the first few months of the season.
The right-hander successfully beat cancer in April, but he was ultimately unable to skirt past a significant elbow injury.
Hendriks tossed a bullpen session in early July, then he pitched a simulated game on July 19. He was able to top out at 93.8 miles per hour as recently as two weeks ago, meaning a setback must have caused team doctors to take a second look at Hendriks' elbow.
The 34-year-old reliever could become a free agent this winter, as the three-year, $54 million deal he signed with Chicago in 2021 is set to expire. The White Sox do have a one-year, $15 million option they could tack onto Hendriks' contract, but they do not owe him a buyout if they elect to let him go.
After opening his career as a starter with the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals, Hendriks became a full-time reliever back in 2015. Hendriks broke out with the Oakland Athletics from 2016 to 2020, before he left to join the White Sox in free agency.
Hendriks made three consecutive All-Star appearances from 2019 to 2022, racking up 114 saves – the most in the American League in that span. He also posted a 2.26 ERA, a 0.883 WHIP, 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a 7.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio over those four seasons.
It will likely be 2025 when Hendriks can take the mound in a major league game again, at which point he would be 36 years old.
Chicago won't have to alter their bullpen much moving forward as a result of Hendriks' surgery, considering he had only appeared in five games before getting hurt. The White Sox were sellers at the MLB trade deadline – shipping starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, starting pitcher Lance Lynn, third baseman Jake Burger, reliever Joe Kelly, reliever Reynaldo López, reliever Kendall Graveman and reliever Keynan Middleton out of town – and they currently boast the third-worst record in the AL at 43-65.
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