Chicago White Sox' Liam Hendriks Out with Injury as Baseball's Best Story Hits a Snag

After beating cancer earlier this year, Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks has been the best story in baseball for the last two weeks. Unfortunately, that best story hit a snag on Sunday as Hendriks was placed on the injured list with an elbow problem.

The best story in baseball just went sideways.

On Sunday, Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. He had just debuted in late May after beating a cancer diagnosis that was given to him this past offseason.

The following comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Chicago placed Hendriks on the 15-day injured list Sunday with right elbow inflammation, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

ANALYSIS
Hendricks will miss at least two weeks while he recovers from the injury, although elbow injuries to pitchers often require a longer stay on the IL than that minimum amount of time. The right-hander has registered a 5.40 ERA with one save over five appearances since returning to the White Sox after completing treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Tanner Banks was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to replace Hendriks on the 26-man active roster, but it's likely that Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly see most of the save chances for the White Sox while Hendriks is on the IL.

Hendriks is one of the top closers in the league, having wrapped up 116 career saves, nearly all of which have come since 2019. He led the league in 2021 in saves with 38 for the White Sox.

Hendriks is in his 13th career major league season and has spent time with the Twins, Royals, Blue Jays, Athletics and White Sox. He's a three-time All-Star (2019, 2021-2022).

At the time of this posting, the White Sox lead the Miami Marlins, 5-3. A White Sox win would move them to 30-37 on the year.