Liam Hendriks Heads Back to Minnesota, Hoping for One More Shot
Liam Hendriks is back where it all began.
The veteran right-hander has signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins, complete with an invite to spring training. It’s a reunion nearly a decade in the making, bringing Hendriks full circle to the organization that gave him his first shot in the big leagues.
For Royals fans, Hendriks’ name might ring a distant bell. He wore Kansas City blue briefly back in 2014, arriving in a midseason deal with Toronto that sent infielder Danny Valencia to the Blue Jays.
Hendriks’ stint at Kauffman Stadium was short-lived-just 19.1 innings across six appearances, three of them starts. The numbers?
A 4.66 ERA, a 2.20 FIP, 1.50 WHIP, and a .317 opponent batting average. He struck out 17.4% of batters faced, but walked only 3.5%.
It was a mixed bag, and his time in Kansas City came and went without much fanfare.
But that was just the beginning of a long, winding journey through Major League Baseball.
After bouncing between the Twins, Blue Jays, and Royals early in his career, Hendriks finally found his footing in Oakland. That’s where he transformed from a journeyman arm into one of baseball’s most dominant relievers. Over five seasons with the A’s, he posted a 3.08 ERA across 247 appearances, logging 663.2 innings and evolving into a bullpen cornerstone.
In 2019, Hendriks officially took over as closer and never looked back. That season, he notched 25 saves and earned his first All-Star nod.
It was the beginning of a late-career renaissance. He’d go on to earn two more All-Star selections in 2021 and 2022 with the White Sox, returning to the AL Central and establishing himself as one of the game’s elite closers.
His high-octane fastball and fiery mound presence became his calling cards.
But the last few years haven’t been kind to Hendriks.
In early 2023, he was diagnosed with cancer-a battle that sidelined him and put baseball on the back burner. He fought through treatment and made a courageous return to the mound, only to suffer an elbow injury shortly after. That setback required Tommy John surgery, wiping out most of his 2024 season.
When he did return in 2025, now with the Red Sox, the results weren’t there. He struggled with both elbow and hip inflammation, and the numbers reflected it: a 6.59 ERA in limited action. It was a tough chapter for a pitcher who had once been among the most feared ninth-inning arms in the league.
Now, at 37, Hendriks is looking for one more shot. The Twins are giving him that opportunity-one that comes with no guarantees, but plenty of upside.
For a club in the midst of a retool, bringing in a veteran with Hendriks’ pedigree makes a lot of sense. If he can rediscover even a fraction of his All-Star form, he could become a valuable piece, whether as a late-inning option or a mentor to younger arms.
Spring training will be telling. Hendriks has defied the odds before, and he’s not the type to back down from a challenge. The road back to the majors won’t be easy, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Liam Hendriks-it’s that betting against him is usually a mistake.