White Sox Sign Star Reliever Liam Hendriks
Photo Via: Cody Glenn / Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesLiam Hendriks has been an elite reliever in the American League for two consecutive seasons. The flamethrowing Australian has kept his ERA below the 2.00 threshold in each 2019 and 2020. Now, Hendriks will bring that rocket arm to the South Side. The Chicago White Sox and Hendriks have agreed to a deal for 3 years and $39 million, with a mutual option for the 2024 season, as well, for $15 million, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan via Twitter late tonight. The 2024 mutual option also includes a $15 million buyout, payable over an extended period time, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, meaning Hendriks is guaranteed $54 million in the deal.
Liam Hendriks ranked as the 9th best free agent in this offseason’s class in our Free Agency Tracker, and is also the top relief pitcher. In his last 110.1 innings, he has a 1.79 ERA and has impressively recorded 161 strikeouts and 39 saves. His fastball has natural movement at 96 miles per hour and he has thrown it for about 70% of his pitches over the past two seasons. Hendriks’ secondary pitch is his slider (86-88 mph), and he has not allowed a home run when throwing it over the past three seasons (483 pitches per Baseball Savant). The third pitch of his three-pitch-mix is a curveball, which he tends to throw more to left-handed batters, but does not generally use the pitch in comparison to the fastball and slider. Hendriks’ breaking pitches are effective partly because hitters must gear up for the heater, which has elite movement as well (4th in MLB in vertical movement for 4-seam fastballs).
Chicago will seemingly slot Hendriks in as the closer, replacing Aléx Colomé, who is now a free agent. Hendriks was the 2020 American League Reliever of the Year, and Colomé was a finalist. The White Sox have been busy this offseason. The organization hired Tony LaRussa as manager, traded for veteran starting pitcher Lance Lynn, and signed outfielder Adam Eaton. The lineup is full of stars, such as reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu, former Batting Title winner Tim Anderson, former top prospect Yoan Moncada, and veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal. It also features some future stars, such as outfielders Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. The pitching rotation includes ace Lucas Giolito, dominant veteran Dallas Keuchel, and the newly-acquired Lynn. Naturally, the next move had to be to lock in a bullpen piece to close out games. Hendriks will join lefty Aaron Bummer in taking on the bulk of the late innings.