White Sox closer Liam Hendriks is nearing a return to the major leagues after beating stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Chicago White Sox's Liam Hendriks is the feel-good story of the year.
After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hendriks began treatment in early January. On April 20, he announced that he beat cancer and was in remission.
Since then, the club has kept close tabs on Hendriks' health, giving him a handful of rehab stints with Triple-A Charlotte to see if he was ready to rejoin the big leagues.
After six total appearances with the Charlotte Knights, including a scoreless one-inning outing in his first game back, Hendriks is reportedly scheduled to throw on Friday. Based on that practice, the club will decide whether Hendriks will be promoted.
White Sox general manager Pedro Grifol said:
"When he throws [Friday], we'll wait and see the outcome, how he feels, what the numbers were [and] evaluate it really well. He's close, so now we've got to really do a good job of just evaluating him, how close he really is to being Liam Hendriks, not how close he is just to pitch here in the big leagues."
The White Sox have reason to track Hendriks' progress after he accumulated a troubling 10.80 ERA in the minors.
White Sox's Liam Hendriks beat cancer and is on the verge of re-entering MLB
Depending on how Hendriks' Friday session goes, he could return to the mound as soon as next Monday, though nothing is certain yet.
The three-time All-Star has a career 3.81 ERA and recently established himself as one of the best closers in the league, leading the MLB in 2021 with 38 saves for Chicago and adding another 37 in 2022.
Having Hendriks back in the lineup should help alleviate the White Sox's reliever issues, but Grifol has to get the timing right.
If the right-hander still looks a little rusty, there's no need to rush him into action no matter how inspirational or motivating his story would be. The White Sox are staring down the barrel of a long, arduous season ahead and have already dug themselves a rather nasty hole, sitting in fourth place in the AL Central with a 16-29 record.
No one wants to see Hendriks back on the mound more than the White Sox do, and when he does finally make his return to the MLB, the crowds will be ready to give him a standing ovation.
