It took about half a year for Liam Hendriks to go from battling a serious form of cancer to returning to the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox announced Sunday that Hendriks will be activated Monday after spending the first two months of the season on the injured list battling stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Hendriks, who first announced his diagnosis in early January, confirmed the news himself with an Instagram post showing the big date.
The White Sox welcomed the moment with a montage featuring Hendriks’ teammates and coaches welcoming him back to the team.
Hendriks completed his chemotherapy on April 5 and announced he was officially in remission two weeks later. It took another couple weeks for the White Sox to send him out on a rehab assignment, putting him back in action on May 3.
In six games with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, Hendriks allowed six earned runs in five innings while striking out five and walking one. Once the rehab stint was over, Hendriks threw three live batting practice sessions with the White Sox, per MLB.com.
Hendriks’ return will be welcome news for a team that currently sits at 22-33 and fourth place in the AL Central. Chicago’s bullpen currently holds the fifth-highest ERA in MLB at 4.87, while throwing the fourth-most innings. No player on the team has more than four saves.
Hendriks, a three-time All-Star and two-time AL Reliever of the Year, is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.81 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings, with 37 saves in 41 opportunities. He led the AL in saves in 2021, with 38.