Liam Hendriks wants to pitch every day — but the Chicago White Sox closer ‘didn’t do my job’ in the 9th inning of a ‘brutal loss’
When he signed on as the Chicago White Sox closer in 2021, Liam Hendriks said he wanted to pitch every day.
But he didn’t get the ball Sunday against the Boston Red Sox as manager Tony La Russa chose to rest him after a heavy workload over the past week, letting Bennett Sousa get the final out for his first career save.
No big deal. Hendriks obviously was embellishing when he said he wanted to pitch “every day,” right?
“No,” he said before Monday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. It was not an embellishment.
Then how did Hendriks react to the forced day off?
“I was upset because I wanted to play,” he said. “I’m extremely excited and happy for (Souza) getting his first career save. That’s something he’ll always cherish. I think the cameras showed me — I was pouting a little bit in the bullpen. They had told me (about the planned day off).”
Hendriks got the ball against the Guardians on Monday night with a four-run lead in the ninth. He gave up a single and a game-tying grand slam to Josh Naylor to cap a six-run inning as the Guardians staged a stunning rally to tie the game.
After the teams traded runs in the 10th, Naylor’s two-out, three-run home run off Ryan Burr in the 11th gave them the lead, and Trevor Stephan closed out a 12-9 win.
“That’s just a brutal loss, to give up six runs like that and a couple chances to win offensively,” La Russa said. “It’s a tough loss. It’s as tough as you’re going to have.”
Burr replaced Reynaldo López, who exited with lower back tightness at the start of the inning.
“Right now it stings,” Hendriks said. “Burr should’ve never been in that situation. López should’ve never been in that situation. It should’ve been something I took care of. I was one strike away and I wasn’t able to get it done, and that stings the most.”
According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Guardians were 1-626 when trailing by six or more runs in the ninth over the last 40 seasons.
Hendriks saved each of the first five games in the six-game winning streak that ended Monday, and the Sox had only one day off in that span. But La Russa told reporters Sunday: “We told Hendriks don’t even put your spikes on.”
Hendriks did wear his spikes Sunday, hoping La Russa would change his mind.
“I never go out there unprepared,” he said before Monday’s game. “And if anybody ever goes into our bullpen without their spikes, I’m going to send them running across the field to put them back on because that’s disrespectful.
“No, I will always have my spikes on, but I was really hoping I could convince them to let me play. It didn’t come to fruition. I understand it. It’s still disappointing, but in saying that, we got it done and that’s all that really matters.”
Fast forward to Monday night. Hendriks warmed up in the bullpen in the eighth with the Sox holding a 5-2 lead. AJ Pollock’s three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth seemingly put the game out of reach, so La Russa turned to left-hander Tanner Banks in the ninth.
But errors by Yoán Moncada and Tim Anderson and some shaky pitching by Banks forced La Russa to turn to Hendriks with two outs, two on and the lead down to four. Hendricks gave up a single to Owen Miller to load the bases before Naylor grabbed hold of a 99 mph fastball on the first pitch and sent it into the right-field bleachers.
Was getting up and down a factor?
“Yeah, I got up in the eighth,” Hendriks said. “Yes, I got up in the ninth. Yes, I sat down and then got back up again. But that’s not an excuse to not get it done. At the end of the day you’re coming in there with a job to do, and I didn’t do my job tonight.”
La Russa concurred that Hendriks was ready.
“He got ready but he didn’t have to pitch,” he said. “You bring him in with the tying run on deck, there’s not much room for an error there. Give the hitters credit.”
The Sox left the bases loaded in the ninth before Indians shortstop Andres Gimenez doubled home the go-ahead run in the 10th. The Sox tied it in the bottom of the inning when Adam Engel beat a throw to the plate on a dribbler to pitcher Emmanuel Chase, but they couldn’t push across another run with the bases loaded and one out.
With the game tied in the 11th, La Russa considered walking Naylor with two out and two on.
“It doesn’t look very good right now,” he said. “We were going to pitch him tough and made a mistake.”
Burr was glad La Russa let him challenge Naylor, even as he compared himself to a bug on a windshield that “got squashed.”
“I don’t care who it is,” Burr said. “I made a pitch and he hit the ball. That’s the game of baseball for you. It went over the fence. We lost the game.”
It wasn’t just that they lost but how they lost. Hendriks said the toughest part was that Michael Kopech’s “phenomenal” six-inning start was lost in the collapse.
“He’s still decisionless this year,” Hendriks said. “And that’s another thing, we had an opportunity to give him his first win of the year, and that didn’t come to fruition because I didn’t do my job.”
Before the game Hendriks discussed “old-school” relievers who pitched every day.
“Look, I’ll never ask for a day off,” he said. “I told the training staff, you have to tell me. I’m going to disagree with them most days, but I’ll never ask for a day because I don’t want to get in the mindset, like, ‘OK, I’m not feeling great today, so let me take a day.’
“That’s the snowball effect that will make me complacent, and I just never want to let that in. I’ve got a little bit of an old-school mentality some days.”
Hendriks’ wish was granted Monday, and he’ll no doubt want the ball again Tuesday.
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