White Sox place Liam Hendriks on IL with right elbow inflammation

The Chicago White Sox placed closer Liam Hendriks on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, the team announced Sunday. He will get an MRI and the team’s next update is expected Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

• White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told reporters Hendriks’ injury initially presents as similar to his flexor strain last season, but it’s too soon to label it as such at this time.
• Hendriks last pitched in a 2-1 victory over Miami on Friday. He earned the win after tossing a scoreless ninth inning, but his velocity was down to the 93-95 mph range.
• Hendriks was unavailable during Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Marlins in which Joe Kelly worked the ninth inning, blew the save and took the loss.
• Hendriks returned to the majors on May 29, five months after starting treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. On April 20, he announced he was cancer-free.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Hendriks’ latest speed bump in returning to top form

Hendriks has pitched with a partial UCL tear in his right elbow for the last 15 years. He missed time with a flexor strain last season. And between non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chemotherapy and ramping up to return to the majors by the end of May, his 2023 workload progression has not been the most normal in human history. It takes an awful lot to get Hendriks to accept an IL placement, and he’s been through an awful lot.

After an understandably rough first outing, Hendriks has been a positive contributor to the White Sox bullpen. The only run he’s allowed since then is a solo shot to Josh Donaldson, before securing his first save of the year in a 3-2 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday. But even while getting outs, Hendriks has been missing 2-3 mph on his average fastball velocity and not missing bats at his normally superlative rates. It was — understandably — always going to take Hendriks some time to pitch his way back into top form. Now, it will take a bit longer.

The best version of the White Sox bullpen has a healthy Hendriks at the back of it, but the unit has performed well since a horrendous April. Kendall Graveman hasn’t allowed a run since April 30 and absorbed most closing opportunities. Keynan Middleton has been a tremendous find after being a non-roster invite in spring, and Reynaldo López has also been reliable over the past six weeks. — Fegan

What they’re saying

“I feel — at this point, based on everything we know — I feel confident in saying that the ramp-up and the return-to-play protocol did not influence this result,” Hahn said Sunday. “Has everything he’s been through, medically and physically, over the past six months, let’s say, potentially led us here? Maybe? I don’t know if anyone’s ever gonna know that. But in terms of his, once he was cleared and how he was ramped up and how he returned to play, I don’t think that’s a factor, based upon the fact that the number of medical professionals involved … this is…