Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks made his highly-anticipated return to MLB during Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels. Here’s what you need to know:
Liam Hendriks is back on the field after beating cancer.
What an entrance from the White Sox closer.
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The Athletic’s instant analysis:
A miraculous return for Hendriks
With his wife, parents and family in the crowd, Hendriks was showered in standing ovations upon his miraculous return. Home plate umpire John Libka stepped out for the moment and allowed for the crowd and both teams to applaud, and for Hendriks to soak it all in.
Then, the fairy tale ran into reality, and Hendriks had to face major league hitters. Still missing a couple ticks off the fastball he had last year and bouncing a fair amount of his sliders, Hendriks labored to put away hitters with two strikes.
A Matt Thaiss leadoff single came around to score on a Zach Neto sacrifice fly, and Tim Anderson had a potential inning-ending leaping catch on a Mike Trout liner squirt out of his glove. Hendriks trudged off the field after a laborious 27-pitch inning clearly displeased, back in the familiar mode of scrutinizing his every mistake.
The two runs served as…
