White Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks’s All-Star career hit a major roadblock in Jan. 2023 when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an event that triggered an outpouring of support from across the baseball world and shed light on a disease that affects 80,000 Americans every year.
However, Hendriks was able to return after missing just under two months of this season. Sunday he took yet another key step toward becoming the Hendriks of old.
Hendriks was the winning pitcher in the White Sox’s 6-2 win over the Tigers in Chicago Sunday afternoon — the 32nd win of his career and his first since his diagnosis.
The date on the calendar made Hendriks’s victory even more special: June 4 is National Cancer Survivors Day.
Liam Hendriks earns his first win since beating cancer.
And he did it on National Cancer Survivors Day.
📸: @whitesox pic.twitter.com/nKtSXjCcGD
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) June 4, 2023
Hendriks made his season debut on Monday, giving up two runs in an inning of work during Chicago’s 6-4 loss to the Angels after getting a standing ovation from fans.
Against Detroit, he struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth, paving the way for designated Jake Burger’s walk-off grand slam in the bottom half of the inning.
