The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Chicago White Sox, 6-4, at Guaranteed Rate Field on Monday.
The Sox, however, feel like they won.
They said themselves on Twitter.
Tonight was a huge W to us.
Welcome back, Liam! 💚 pic.twitter.com/uF1C3azuzy
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 30, 2023
The reason?
They got to welcome back their All-Star closer, Liam Hendriks, after fighting with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for the better part of the last five months.
Hendriks was already one of the fan favorites in Chicago before the diagnosis.
He beat cancer and had a smile on his face in every public appearance, so he is now universally loved around MLB circles.
That White Sox video showed the path he covered from being called in the bullpen to the mound.
It was clear he was hyped and emotional, and so were the thousands of fans in attendance.
Hendriks completed an inning of work but allowed three hits and two earned runs.
He didn’t lose the game because it was 4-3 Angels when he entered.
He will get back to the level we are used to seeing him at with more reps.
He showed good velocity and his stuff is mostly there.
Beating other teams and hitters in particular is nothing considering the battle he just won, anyway.
As long as he has his health, the love of his family, and the admiration of the baseball universe, everything else is secondary.
Fortunately for him, he has all those things.
Being the competitor he is, however, he will work tirelessly to improve on the mound and resemble the pitcher who posted a 2.81 ERA last year.
Chances are he will return to that form eventually, and we will all be there to witness it.
NEXT:
Former MLB Star Sports T-Shirt Honoring Liam Hendriks
