How Red Sox’s Liam Hendriks Felt After Throwing Off Mound

BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks took a significant first step toward his injury rehab.

The 35-year-old threw in the bullpen on Wednesday at Fenway Park for the first time since having Tommy John surgery last August. He revealed how his arm felt after the quick session of about 15-16 pitches.

"Attached," Hendriks told reporters before the Red Sox's finale against the Toronto Blue Jays. "Which is better than it was dealing with different areas of soreness than I'm used to because now my ligaments are still attached, so it doesn't have as much give as it used to."

Hendriks added: "I mean, it was nice. It's kind of where I feel more comfortable. First time it's been what ... I've had only five meaningful role games in two years almost. It's been a little trek to get there, but today was a nice stepping stone. Not quite as crisp as I would have liked."

As for next steps, he has his wish, but the Red Sox aren't going to oblige.

"I asked if I could go back-to-back. They said no," he said. "Honestly, I don't know. I haven't checked too far ahead. It's been one of those ones where it's I want to make sure I come back well, and if I do, then we can do it. If I don't, then I'm not kind of geared up to do something else soon."

One thing about the process that Hendriks has realized is how boring not playing baseball is for him.

"How boring it is. How tedious it is," he said. "I just love the monotony of baseball, but this has my head in and not being able to go out there and be like, 'You know what, I feel like doing more today,' and I'm not allowed to. That kinda sucks. It's a bit of a pain in the ass. I'm not a very patient person when it comes to baseball activity. Going through this process has been a struggle."

Even throwing a small session in the bullpen didn't help raise Hendriks' adrenaline.

"A little bit, but no. A little bit, but not really at the same time," he said. "Maybe if I did it on the actual game mound, maybe a little bit more. ... It's still a pain in the ass and I wish it would go quicker."

Hendriks added: "I don't know if the trainers love me or want to kill me. Every day is a struggle to try and let them make me do more and then them trying to hold me back in a normal stratosphere, which sucks. But I think we've been on a good plan. Hopefully, I can get a couple more bullpens so I can stop doing exercises that I hate doing."

The Red Sox signed Hendriks to a two-year, $10 million deal in February, even though he hasn’t played a full season since 2022. He notched a 2.87 ERA and 37 saves during that campaign.