Liam Hendriks Returns to White Sox Following Cancer Treatment, Expected to Play Soon

Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks is nearing a return to the big leagues after announcing he was cancer-free in April.

Hendriks told ESPN's Jeff Passan he's heading back to Chicago to throw a live batting practice on Friday and return to MLB games soon thereafter if things go well.

Hendriks announced on Jan. 8 he was set to begin treatment after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The 34-year-old wrote on social media on April 20 he was in remission and cancer-free.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Hendriks explained there was "no way to put a real timeline on" when he got cancer but "there was always the chance that I pitched damn near all year last year with lymphoma in my system."

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said on May 3 that Hendriks would make four or five rehab appearances in the minors with Triple-A Charlotte. His first appearance was a scoreless one-inning outing on May 5.

Hendriks has made six total appearances with the Knights. He has allowed six earned runs with five strikeouts in five innings.

Grifol has been careful about managing expectations for when Hendriks might appear in an MLB game. He told reporters prior to Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Guardians the three-time All-Star could pitch at "the beginning of next week or the end of next week."

"Liam will show up here tomorrow or Friday and then we'll sit down and talk about how we will proceed. With Liam, though, it's day-to-day. There's no blueprint for this," Grifol added.

A 13-year MLB veteran, Hendriks is in his third season with the White Sox. He made the American League All-Star team in each of his first two years with the club and led the AL with 38 saves in 2021.