Liam Hendriks heads to the IL as Red Sox injury woes continue

New York Times

3 days ago

As the Boston Red Sox begin a three-game series in Atlanta this weekend, the team has placed right-hander Liam Hendriks on the injured list with right hip inflammation. The Red Sox have nine players on the injured list total but five of them — including Alex Bregman and Triston Casas — have joined the list since the start of May. The team is 10-16 in May and are currently on a five-game losing streak.
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The Red Sox have recalled right-hander Nick Burdi from Triple-A Worcester to replace Hendriks in the bullpen. The 36-year-old Hendriks last pitched on Tuesday when he gave up a walk-off grand slam to Milwaukee's Chrisitan Yelich in a 10th-inning loss.
In 14 appearances this season, Hendriks has posted a 6.59 ERA and 1.39 WHIP with seven walks and 12 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings. He began the year on the IL with a compressed nerve in his right forearm, but debuted on April 20 after 681 days in between MLB appearances, as he recovered from non-Hodgkins' Lymphoma followed by Tommy John surgery.
It's been a tumultuous last few weeks for Henriks. Manager Alex Cora used Hendriks in lower-leverage opportunities when he first returned to the active roster, but as the REd Sox bullpen was heavily used over the past several weeks, Hendriks voiced frustration during the last homestand that he wasn't being used in bigger spots.
'I feel like I haven't been pitching enough,' Hendriks said on a day when he pitched but gave up the go-ahead runs in a loss to the Mets. 'And if you want me to be me, I got to pitch, like I will rust before I wear out. But at the end of the day, I've got to reward them by getting guys out. And if I'm not doing that, then I don't deserve to pitch.'
The next day, Hendriks posted on Instagram he'd received death threats and was outspoken about the increasingly threatening comments made to players in large part due to the rise of sports gambling.
'With the rise of sports gambling, it's gotten a lot worse,' Hendriks said. 'Whether it be Venmo requests, whether it be people telling you in their comments, 'Hey, you blew my parlay. Go f— yourself' kind of s—. And then it's, 'Go hang yourself. You should kill yourself. I wish you died from cancer.' That one kind of hit a little too close to home for me with everything I've gone through.'
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Burdi returns to the Red Sox after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings in two appearances for the team earlier this year. In 15 appearances for Worcester, Burdi had posted a 0.48 ERA with 26 strikeouts and five walks in 18 2/3 innings. The Red Sox bullpen currently ranks 14th in baseball with a 3.74 ERA.