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Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora recently said reliever Liam Hendriks was likely done for the 2025 season. Someone should have let Hendriks know.
The 36-year-old hasn’t pitched since late May while dealing with a hip injury. The Red Sox have added some relievers since he’s been out, most recently acquiring Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline. And even Dustin May, acquired from the Dodgers, could find himself pitching out of the ‘pen at some point before season’s end.
Between Hendriks’ apparent long road to recovery and the reinforcements, it seemed as if another frustrating campaign for the right-hander was going to end on the sideline. Cora even acknowledged as much with comments to reporters over the weekend.
Given a chance to respond Monday, though, Hendriks isn’t exactly sure where Cora got that notion.
“That was surprising,” Hendriks told reporters before Game 1 of a series with the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park, per The Boston Globe. “That kind of shook me a little bit. That was frustrating, because I’m like, ‘Have they not told me everything that’s going on? Am I out of the loop? What’s going on?’
“Because everything I’ve spoken to with our guys has been, like, ‘We’re pushing to get you back this year.'”
Hendriks added, per MassLive: “It was just a slip of the tongue (from Cora), unfortunately. It was definitely not a good thing for me to hear. But we hashed it out and we’re all good.”
Ultimately, it might be semantics. The runway is running out for Hendriks to get fully healthy and back up to speed. And while he did pitch through injury before hitting the injured list, Hendriks struggled in limited appearances. Hendriks pitched in 14 games, allowing 10 earned runs on 12 hits with seven walks in just 13 2/3 innings.
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