Three-time All-Star pitcher's future in question after Alex Cora's latest update

Liam Hendriks' injury is concerning

Forearm issues aren’t a good sign for a pitcher who missed all of the 2024 season due to a Tommy John surgery, but for now this bout of tightness represents just the latest in a series of injuries that has led to another virtual lost year for Hendriks.  He developed elbow soreness during spring training that delayed the start of his 2025 campaign, and Hendriks hasn’t pitched since the end of May due to hip inflammation and an abdominal strain.

In between those two stints on the IL, Hendriks posted a 6.59 ERA over his 13 2/3 frames for Boston.  Since the start of the 2023 season, Hendriks has thrown only 18 2/3 total major league innings with the White Sox and Red Sox, with a 6.27 ERA to show for those 19 games.  Hendriks returned from a battle with cancer in the early part of the 2023 campaign, before elbow problems surfaced and resulted in his TJ procedure.

Liam Hendriks' future in question

The Red Sox signed Hendriks to a backloaded two-year, $10M contract in the 2024 offseason, with the idea that Hendriks would likely miss 2024 rehabbing and then return healthy and ready to contribute this year.  However, it now looks like the reliever’s tenure in Boston will end after just 14 games.  Hendriks’ contract has a $12M mutual option for 2026 that will naturally be declined, so he will receive a $2M buyout and re-enter free agency.

Since Hendriks turns 37 in February, it is fair to wonder if retirement could be in the cards after all the tumult of his last three seasons.  That said, Hendriks surely doesn’t want to go out on a low note, and was so intent on making it back before 2025 was over that it seems likely he’ll seek out a minor league contract this winter, unless this forearm tightness develops into something more serious.