El equipo de los Red Sox ha ofrecido un contrato de dos años para el jugador de derecha estrella.
Boston — Since agreeing to a two-year contract for right-hander Liam Hendriks in the offseason, the Red Sox have not been able to use the reliever.
Two days after throwing a 15-pitch bullpen session, Hendriks, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw 20 pitches on Friday, all of which were fastballs. Hendriks, 35, is still committed to throwing before the 2024 season ends, and everything seemed to be going in his favor.
Before Sunday’s series finale at Fenway Park against the Padres, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, “He played catch a few days ago, felt good.” “He is a very strong individual and has been right on point.” pressing the medical personnel, of course, but we need to use caution—and he is aware of this. I do think that later in the season, he will be involved in this.
Pitching for the Athletics and White Sox throughout the 2019 and 2023 seasons, Hendriks got three selections to the American League All-Star team with a 2.32 ERA. Before beginning treatment for Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and playing in just five games in 2023, he recorded a league-leading and career-best 38 saves in 2021. He then recorded 37 saves in 2022.
The Red Sox couldn’t afford to burn another arm and needed almost anybody to take one for the team as they were already shorthanded going into Sunday. Knowing this, Boston manager Alex Cora searched the dugout for his man.
Cora remarked, “He pitched in high school.” “He was right next to (bench coach Ramón Vázquez), but we had a few guys.”
It took some persuasion to convince Cora—though not as much as you might expect—about who should get the final three outs in a Major League Baseball game. After the game, he described the (very simple) chat that resulted in Smith’s first-ever outing.
“Have you pitched?” Cora asked.
Smith: “In high school, yes.”
“You want to pitch in the major leagues?” Cora asked.
Smith: “Why not?”
If it’s that simple, why isn’t it done by everyone?
Position players really pitch very frequently because most teams will utilize them several times a year due to the fact that pitchers in baseball are human and can have bad days.
When he was a member of the Texas Rangers, Brock Holt is renowned for throwing the slowest pitch in MLB history. On Saturday, Smith threw the slowest pitch by just one tick. It has been done recently in Boston by Yolmer Sanchez, Yu Chang, Reese McGuire, Kevin Plawecki, Christian Arroyo, and Pablo Reyes; Plawecki and Reyes have made it into a routine. While Smith most certainly doesn’t want to go through that again anytime soon, the Red Sox most definitely don’t want to.
Smith remarked, “I might want to do it again if we’re up pretty big.” “.. “I got you, whatever you need,” I said to Cora.
