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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks said he’s confident he’ll be back on the mound late next season after recovering from Tommy John surgery he had last month.
Hendriks, 34, spoke in the White Sox clubhouse Friday, wearing a brace on his right arm.
“There is no doubt in my mind I’ll be back,” Hendriks said. “I’ll be 35, with a brand-new elbow. Hopefully it gives me a couple extra years.”
Hendriks missed the first two months of this season while undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He ultimately returned to the mound, but then was sidelined by the elbow injury after making just five appearances.
Hendriks surprised everyone by his quick return from cancer but doesn’t think that led to his arm injury.
“We did not rush back,” Hendriks said. “I probably threw more bullpens than anyone in this clubhouse. I want to make sure that’s well known.
“It was in a little bit of pain before I went on my rehab assignment. It’s something I’ve dealt with before. I felt like I could throw through it.”
The White Sox struggled to close out games without Hendriks, eventually falling so far out of the playoff race they subtracted veterans from their roster at the trade deadline. The team has a $15 million option on Hendriks for next season. The club is responsible for his rehab even if it doesn’t pick up that option, in which case he would become a free agent.
“My goal is to pitch next year,” he said. “Thirteen months would be around Sept. 2 … Who knows if I’ll need that little showcase at the end of the season to be able to get a job.”
Hendriks will remain with the big league team the rest of this year and travel to most road games as he wants to mentor a young group of pitchers; the organization turned over its staff after trading six hurlers at the deadline.
Hendriks said he had a feeling surgery might be needed while throwing a batting practice session in Minnesota last month.
“My last live BP was 92 (mph) with pain,” he said. “That’s not quite the recipe we needed.”
Hendriks went as far as having pitching coach Ethan Katz record his last pitch during that BP session “in case it was my last pitch in a White Sox uniform.”
In the end, he’s glad to get past this latest setback.
“I took the ball for as long as I can,” he said. “It will be nice to brush my teeth without pain for the first time in a decade or so. That will be fun. I had to cut my hair because I can’t put it up in a ponytail anymore.”