Ex-Athletics closer Liam Hendriks shines in first outing since beating cancer
Ex-A's closer Hendriks shines in first outing since diagnosis originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Just five months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, former Athletics closer Liam Hendriks took one step closer to returning to the big leagues Friday.
Hendriks, who began cancer treatment in January and announced he was cancer-free in late April, pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, the Chicago White Sox's affiliate, in their 2-0 loss to the Gwinnett Stripers.
Hendriks worked through a scoreless eighth inning on nine pitches and tallied one strikeout.
The crowd at Coolray Field gave the 34-year-old Hendriks a huge round of applause before the outing began.
"I threw my warm-up pitches then they made a PA announcement," Hendriks said. "Both teams got out and started clapping, which, don't get me wrong, is really, really nice and I very much appreciated it. It made me very emotional.
"But I'm a guy who pitches on anger. And it's really hard to get angry when you know the other team is full of nice people. So, a little tough to get locked in. But hey, a clean inning is a clean inning."
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After struggling early in his career as a starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals, Hendriks found his groove as a member of the A’s bullpen in 2016.
By 2019, he developed into one of the game’s nastiest closers and was named an All-Star for the first time. He signed with the White Sox after the 2020 season and made the All-Star team the past two seasons.
With one minor-league appearance behind him, Hendriks' 2023 season debut can't be far behind.
