There was no need for Liam Hendriks to take the mound for the White Sox Wednesday.
A closer isn’t often called upon when his team trails 12-2 entering the ninth inning. But Hendriks was ready to pitch, just as he was ready while warming up in the ninth Tuesday after throwing 27 pitches Monday in his inspirational return from battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“[Tuesday] I felt better than the day before,” said Hendriks prior to Wednesday’s series finale. “That’s generally the way I go. Within reason, the more I throw, the better I feel.
“Got out there last night, took me a little less time to get to a point where I felt like I was a little crisper, which is nice. And then continually move forward and do what we can.”
Back at the end of January, I spoke with Jameson Taillon at Cubs Convention about his battle against testicular cancer in 2017. He contacted Hendriks, who had announced his diagnosis on Jan. 8 via Instagram. Taillon shared the idea of there being no playbook for recovery -- Hendriks should do whatever he feels comfortable with while going through treatment.
That plan was followed by Hendriks, who long-tossed and threw bullpens during Spring Training while undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Taillon returned to the mound five weeks after his surgery in 2017 and admitted that he “kind of burned out a little bit at some point” later in the season.
So it will be on Hendriks and the White Sox to monitor how he feels over the final four months of the 2023 campaign.
“Definitely something you have to be concerned about,” Hendriks said. “But that just comes into a little bit more of sleep routines, making sure if I do have a down day, I take advantage of it rather than doing too much or anything like that. Regardless of my energy levels, when there’s a game on, it doesn’t matter.
“I’ll figure it out. That’s the one thing I’ve been very blessed with in the fact that just mindset-wise in the last couple of years, no matter how I’m feeling, there were times last year where I’m exhausted on a day game, literally almost falling asleep in the bullpen and then pitch that day still. Your mind can do amazing things when you’re really given the opportunity.”
Life seemed almost normal for Hendriks after a Monday filled with emotion. I still couldn’t stop thinking about hearing Hendriks say “Stage 4” concerning his diagnosis when he first met with the media in May. I asked him Wednesday about any initial thoughts of mortality, even though he's one of the most positive, driven people I’ve met.
“Not really mortality. It was more long-term stuff,” Hendriks said. “Honestly it was, ‘What does my 2023 look like season-wise?’ That’s where my head went. Initially … we walked in, I’m not having any symptoms, we’re hoping it’s Stage 2 because it’s just up here. And then we had the scan done and it was a lot worse, and it was, ‘OK, there’s a lot more that’s going on. It is Stage 4.’
“Luckily, our doctor was incredible. In the same breath as telling us it was Stage 4, she also said, 'I’m not concerned' or 'I’m not worried.' And that was hugely comforting. … You panic and then she says she’s not worried, it kind of relaxes you a little bit more.”