As the Boston Red Sox march towards a potential MLB playoff berth, a lot of fans have been wondering about Liam Hendriks' status with the club. The 36-year-old righty has been sidelined with hip inflammation since May, adding yet another injury to the list he's racked up since joining the Red Sox before the 2024 MLB season.
Nearly four months make for a long waiting game, though, and the Red Sox needed to decide on his immediate future. Well, that decision was finally made over the weekend, when Boston manager Alex Cora revealed that Hendriks "has been shut down from throwing and won’t be back this year" (h/t @BOSSportsGordo).
As MassLive's Chris Smith reported, the veteran righty's latest injury concerns tightness in his forearm. Although it's good to know Hendriks' hip isn't acting up again, his newest ailment will likely spell the end of his Red Sox tenure.
Red Sox Announce RHP Liam Hendrik is Done for 2025 Season
Even if Hendriks has a speedy recovery, it doesn't make sense for the Red Sox to use him again this year. Once an MLB All-Star reliever, he hasn't been the same player since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023, and his struggles before he was sidelined in May prove that fact. Here's a look at Hendriks' stats from his last All-Star campaign (2022) compared to 2025:
Season | ERA | WHIP | Hits Per 9 Innings | BB Per 9 Innings | Ks Per 9 Innings | K:BB Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 | 6.59 | 1.390 | 7.9 | 4.6 | 7.9 | 1.71 |
2022 | 2.81 | 1.040 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 13.3 | 5.31 |
Throw in the fact that Father Time isn't on his side (nor is he on the side of most aging pitchers), and it's easy to see why the Red Sox were correct to shut Hendriks down. Even if he recovers, chances are he wouldn't be much help in the postseason, where every pitch matters more than the last.
Hendriks' contract includes a $12 million mutual option for 2026, per Spotrac, but it's hard to imagine the Red Sox wanting to run things back again. He's pitched only 13 2/3 innings since putting pen to paper with Boston, and it's better at this point to let him have a fresh start elsewhere.
Hendriks' failed time with the Red Sox is a cautionary tale to front offices that bank on a player's past performance. As great as it would've been to see Hendriks turning back the lock, his career was already on the decline before he joined the franchise, and his latest injury situation could spell the end of his MLB career altogether.