A day after being charged with the loss in a defeat against the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Liam Hendriks posted to Instagram that he and his wife had been receiving threats and ‘horrible and cruel’ comments from fans.
‘Just as an FYI: Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel. You need help,’ Hendriks posted to his Instagram story. ‘Leaving comments to tell me to commit suicide and how you wish I died of cancer is disgusting and vile.’
A three-time All-Star, Hendriks revealed in January 2023 that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy. He announced he was cancer-free several months later and made his season debut in May, but only managed five appearances before ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 campaign.
‘Maybe you should take a step back and reevaluate your life’s purpose before hiding behind a screen attacking players and their family,’ Hendriks wrote. ‘Whether you do it from your ‘fake accounts’ or are dumb enough to do it from your real account. I think I speak for all players who have had to deal with this in their career when I say: Enough is enough.’
Hendriks faced five batters in Boston’s loss 5-1, giving up three hits and three earned runs.
“Regardless of any situation, I’ve got to go out there and get the job done when I do pitch,” Hendriks told reporters after the game. “Today I didn’t.”
Liam Hendriks frustrated by bullpen role
Hendriks signed a two-year deal with the Red Sox ahead of the 2024 season, spending the first year recovering and rehabbing from surgery. The 36-year-old made his 2025 debut on April 20 and prior to his most recent outing, expressed his frustrations about his bullpen role.
“No rhyme or reason. I have no idea,” Hendriks said, per the Boston Globe. “It’s actually a source of contention that I’ve had with [the team] and I’ve had multiple conversations about.’
“I just want to pitch, because the track record over the course of however long speaks for itself,” Hendriks said. “The more I pitch, the better I get. If the theory is you want the best me, throw me.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora acknowledged that he’s been trying to protect Hendriks as the reliever continues building his arm back up, but took responsibility for how he’s been deployed
“We have to use him. That’s on me,” Cora told reporters. “That’s on the pitching department. We’ve got to trust him. There’s a reason he’s here. Been there, done that. Right now, numbers-wise, he has been solid. The fastball is trending up, which is great. He has been able to bury the slider and the curveball, which is great. We have to use him.
“That’s the hard part. You want to take it easy with him, but at the same time, if we don’t use him, we’re doing a disservice not only to him but the whole bullpen. He needs to be a big part of this.”
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