Red Sox RP Liam Hendriks joins!
(On offseason) Hendriks: "Are we done yet, I don't think so." #mlb What are Hendrik's expectations for the upcoming season? Does he like the 'Golden Bat Rule' idea?
(On offseason) Hendriks: "Are we done yet, I don't think so." #mlb What are Hendrik's expectations for the upcoming season? Does he like the 'Golden Bat Rule' idea?
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00:00Liam Hendricks of the Boston Red Sox.
00:02Hello, Liam.
00:04Hey, how are we doing?
00:05How are you doing?
00:07I'm doing great, other than getting
00:09accustomed to this Boston weather, which
00:11I just came from Arizona.
00:13Slightly different.
00:14Well, slightly different down under as well, I'm assuming.
00:17Is there wind?
00:17I don't even know.
00:18I sound like an idiot.
00:19Is there snow in Australia?
00:23Yeah, in the mountains.
00:24I mean, you have to go searching for it, but it's not uncommon.
00:28It's just it's, yeah, it's not where I'm from.
00:30Isn't it your summer right now, too?
00:32Like, your summer is our winter?
00:34Yeah, so it's about 100 degrees right now back home.
00:36It's perfect beach weather.
00:39Yeah, it's always nice on Christmas Day.
00:40You fire up the barbecue, and you
00:42hang out outside in the patio.
00:44Yeah, well, don't worry about it.
00:45It warms up here right about May 1st, so don't worry about it.
00:52I'm sure you've been paying attention
00:54to the off-season and some additions that
00:57have been made here.
00:57How are you feeling about things so far?
01:00I'm kind of excited.
01:01I've reached out to a mortgage to make sure, like,
01:04anything I can ask, answer about Boston or anything like that.
01:07Even though I'm somewhat the new guy,
01:09I want to make sure we build that rapport.
01:10But obviously, being able to play with Crochet back in 2021,
01:13being in the bullpen with him out there was fantastic.
01:16And he's a guy who's great for my self-esteem
01:19because he giggles at everything.
01:20So it's fantastic for me.
01:23And then, yeah, texting with Beulah, I'm excited.
01:28It's going to be a great team.
01:29We have a lot of high upside, a lot of high swing and miss
01:32stuff, which is one thing I think they were really
01:34focusing on this off-season.
01:35So a lot of positives in that.
01:37It's obviously a little bit more of a volatile couple of pitches
01:42that they've added.
01:42But look, it's part and parcel.
01:45You pay the cost of the entropy, and the entropy
01:48is a high upside guy and a little volatile every now
01:51and then.
01:52But I think it's definitely ticking up
01:54as far as the pitching stuff goes.
01:57Liam, there's been coaching changes
01:59with the Bruins, with the Patriots,
02:01and the theme has been losing a locker room.
02:05When you look at your manager and Alex Cora coming off
02:08a season that didn't go, I'm sure,
02:10the way anybody wanted it to go, do
02:12you feel like his message is still as strong
02:14when it comes to your clubhouse?
02:18Oh, without a doubt.
02:19I mean, I have full faith in AC.
02:21But you also look at it from the point of view
02:23as what everyone was saying at the start of last year
02:26was we were going to finish fifth in the division.
02:28We were not going to have a winning record.
02:30We wouldn't even be close to 500.
02:32And that's what AC was able to do.
02:33He was able to pick up those little bits and pieces
02:36here and there to get us to a 500 team.
02:37Yeah, we faltered down the stretch a little bit.
02:39But it wasn't as if it was a complete lack of anything
02:45going on.
02:46It was like we just ran out of gas.
02:48And that's where I almost think it was the best case
02:50scenario for us.
02:51We really showed what we could do in the first half
02:54and showed what our potential was.
02:56And then in the second half, we showed
02:58what our weaknesses were.
02:58We showed where we need to work on something
03:00and where we need to add and bring in guys.
03:02So it was always a really good season last year.
03:04I was obviously not making the playoff stocks
03:06and all that sort of stuff.
03:07But from a future point of view, I
03:09think it was actually really beneficial to get
03:11that season out of the way.
03:12And now we have an opportunity to add and then hopefully push
03:16for this division title this year.
03:17Yeah, I mean, we as fans might not call that the best case
03:20scenario.
03:22We would prefer that you're in the playoffs.
03:25Yeah, I mean, but if you're not in the playoffs,
03:27you have to be able to take some sort of positive spin
03:30from everything.
03:31And I think that was one thing that we were able to get.
03:33Look, I think at the start of the year,
03:35if we were even in the mix for a 500 team,
03:37there would have been people saying
03:39that they were outperforming.
03:40And that's just one thing.
03:41I think we definitely outperformed the projections
03:44at the start of the year.
03:45So I mean, you can't just say like, oh, yeah,
03:48they're meant to be not in the playoffs.
03:50And then, oh, well, we didn't make the playoffs.
03:52So it's a lost year.
03:53I think you can't have your cake and eat it, though.
03:56Liam, so when the Sox failed to get Soto and allegedly
03:59offered $700 million, do you call Breslau and like, hey,
04:02can I get the sweet on the road now that we're not
04:04spending that money?
04:08That was not quite.
04:10I was more annoyed that I wasn't involved in the discussion
04:12because I feel like I'm an integral part of this front
04:14office now.
04:15Because as a ploach of lost year,
04:17I think I should have had a say.
04:19But look, it's the fact that we're in that market.
04:24I mean, I don't care what team you are.
04:26If you have the ability to financially support
04:29that decision, you've got to go for him.
04:31Because that's a generational type player.
04:32He's a guy that can completely change
04:35the form of a lineup with what he's able to do.
04:38But even if he's not hitting, he's walking.
04:40Even if he's not getting on, like,
04:42even if he's not doing what he's doing, the Soto things,
04:45he still gets on base damn near the best since what,
04:49Barry Bonds or anything like that.
04:50So look, I was very interested in how that market played up.
04:55And now it's, yeah, you pick it up, you move on.
04:58And we've added a couple of pieces,
05:00especially that rotation and a couple of bullpen arms
05:02that have some high swing and miss stuff.
05:03And look, I'm excited to get to camp
05:05and get a chance to meet these guys in person
05:07rather than just over text.
05:08But yeah, I'm excited for the season.
05:11And let's be honest, the Red Sox,
05:13we played better than the sum of our parts.
05:15That's for damn sure.
05:17Liam, when you talk about expectations,
05:19when you start to look at this year with the additions
05:22that you've talked about with this rotation,
05:24especially the potential of a guy like Garrett Crochet,
05:28offensively, even last year, you guys were in the top 10
05:32in most of the categories when it comes to hitting.
05:36What's the expectations this year?
05:39Is it expectations we have a legitimate playoff team
05:42because of the moves we made, especially with the rotation?
05:45Yeah, I think if you look at it, as you said,
05:47we had a top 10 offense in baseball last year.
05:50And we've lost a couple of guys.
05:51That's going to hurt a little bit.
05:54But we're also expecting guys to take those little steps
05:57forward like Jaron Durant did last year,
05:59full healthy season from Cassis.
06:01Hopefully a full healthy season from Story
06:04and having his not only offensive side,
06:06but his defensive side in there as well.
06:08And that's one thing.
06:09And then not moving Savannah around a little bit.
06:11Hopefully he's able to stabilize himself in center
06:14and he's able to kind of get into a little bit of routine
06:16where he's not chopping and changing.
06:18Because even the best guys in the world,
06:20it does affect them when they keep changing positions
06:23as far as defensively.
06:23So having him stuck in a certain place would be great.
06:27But yeah, I think it's an exciting time to be here
06:29because of what we've done
06:30and we saw what we're deficient in.
06:33So are we done yet?
06:35I don't think so.
06:36Ooh, okay.
06:38Speaking of Story, we got a look on social media
06:40into the second annual Story Camp.
06:43Are you planning on going there?
06:45And it looks like a nice facility
06:47that Trevor's put together.
06:49Yeah, I mean, I've only seen as much as you guys have.
06:53But yeah, what he's been able to do, it's pretty special.
06:57I think he's definitely done his work
07:00and his due diligence on trying to get there.
07:02And I'm hoping it can finally pay dividends
07:04to him having a full healthy year as well.
07:07Where do you stand on the golden bat rule?
07:11I think it's terrible.
07:13It's only gonna come in
07:15when those high leverage late inning relievers are out there.
07:17You're not gonna get it
07:18in the second inning against the starter.
07:20You're gonna get it in the seventh, eighth, ninth
07:21when you got the leverage guys out there.
07:23You're already giving them enough things.
07:24You're already making us,
07:26you've given us the pitch clock,
07:28which as far as just having a breather,
07:31we don't get a timeout, which sucks.
07:32But you're limiting the time in between commercials
07:36for us to run in and get all that.
07:38So you're already,
07:39everything is a slowly incremental thing
07:41and just destroying relievers.
07:44But look, at the end of the day,
07:46whoever's in the box, it doesn't matter to me.
07:47If they implement it,
07:49I'm still gonna go get them out anyway,
07:50if it was the nine hole guy or their best hitter,
07:52doesn't matter.
07:53So when you look at, you know,
07:55some of the guys that might be available out there,
07:59have you went to front office
08:01and made some pitches for guys like maybe a Bregman
08:04or Pete Alonzo, you know, some offensive bats?
08:07Is there a guy out there that you've said,
08:09hey, this is a guy you might wanna go into,
08:11get that could help us out?
08:14No, no, I haven't gone to the front office
08:16or anything like that.
08:17I think that's, I do not envy
08:19what the GM has to go through,
08:20especially in a team like Boston,
08:22every year, every off season,
08:24because you're the Boston Red Sox,
08:26you're meant to be doing stuff,
08:26you're meant to be making those splashy moves.
08:28But yeah, I don't envy his role at all.
08:31Now I've reached out to a couple of guys
08:33and like, hey, what do you got?
08:35The only thing I can ask you about Boston
08:36before you even say no or anything like that.
08:38So I'm doing my due diligence trying to reach out
08:40about guys who maybe, just may not be,
08:43but at the end of the day, everyone's got their own path.
08:45Everyone's got their own journey.
08:46And look, I'm hoping it works out
08:48and we get a couple of guys coming here,
08:50but I think something, we'll see what happens.
08:54Well, you're gonna get to hear it from all the fans
08:58and hang out and meet everybody on Saturday
09:00for Fenway Fest.
09:02And I know that there's a lot of guys that are coming.
09:06Are you looking forward to the opportunity
09:08to talk baseball with some Red Sox fans?
09:12Yeah, I'm excited, obviously.
09:14I haven't had a FanFest or Fenway Fest,
09:16obviously this is my first Fenway Fest,
09:18but I haven't had a fan convention
09:20or fan event like this since 2019 in Oakland.
09:25So I'm actually excited for this
09:26because I enjoy this stuff.
09:28I enjoy seeing the fan base come out.
09:29I enjoy meeting people, the kids, the giveaways,
09:33all this sort of stuff.
09:34I think it's a great opportunity for fans
09:36to see behind the curtain a little bit
09:38as far as the players' personalities a little bit more
09:41rather than just seeing them on the field
09:43and maybe grabbing them here and there.
09:44But no, I'm excited for it.
09:46It's gonna be a great weekend.
09:48And yeah, I'm excited.
09:49And hopefully my wrist is up to scruff
09:52and hopefully I get an opportunity
09:53to sign a bunch of autographs
09:55because it is an opportunity for us.
09:57I mean, I've been in some FanFests
09:59where no one even gives you the time of day
10:01and you're sitting there twiddling your thumbs
10:02because you're sitting next to Justin Morneau or Joe Mauer.
10:04So this will be, hopefully people come
10:08and ask me for my autograph.
10:11Besides the weather, which you brought up,
10:13what's been the hardest thing to get used to
10:15about being in Boston?
10:19Traffic.
10:20Yeah, I think what, I had a news report yesterday
10:25that said traffic in Boston is actually better
10:28than it used to be, which yeah, I don't quite believe,
10:31but I'm going from downtown to Fenway.
10:34So it's a, yeah, it's a, that,
10:37I think I'm running out of juice on my horn right now
10:39in my car.
10:40So it's, I need to top that one up.
10:42But yeah, I think that's one of the biggest ones
10:44where it's just randomly,
10:45you'll be stuck at a set of lights for 15 minutes.
10:47I'm going a mile and a half.
10:49How does it take me 45 minutes?
10:52Bike lanes.
10:53It's terrible.
10:54No, no, no.
10:55I've got my electric scooter, but it's a,
10:57yeah, I got my scooter and I got my helmet
10:59and I cruised through that,
11:00but I do not trust it rolling around on night games.
11:03Around here, we don't want pitchers on bikes or-
11:06No, no, no.
11:07I'm saying we need- Oh dear.
11:08Or on scooters, please.
11:08I'm saying we need to get rid of bike lanes.
11:09Even if they're buy handed, it's different.
11:12Even if they're on sale.
11:15Liam, we need to get rid of those bike lanes.
11:16That's what's causing the traffic.
11:17That's what I'm saying.
11:18Get rid of them damn things.
11:20I would say get rid of the mopeds
11:21who do all the Uber Eats,
11:22but that's how I, that's the only way I survive.
11:24So I can't do that.
11:26You guys ever, have you ever seen guys
11:28that order Uber Eats to the clubhouse?
11:33Yes, actually.
11:34One of our guys has a very big,
11:37he has the same order every time he starts.
11:39So I've seen that happen before.
11:43I always get skeeved out,
11:44because I'm like, what do I tell him?
11:45Just like, gate D?
11:46Like, what do I want it to do here?
11:49What's the order?
11:52It's a Chipotle order every time,
11:54every start day for this particular guy.
11:58Yeah, that's what he does.
11:59I mean, if it's on the road, at home,
12:01it doesn't matter.
12:02He's getting Chipotle.
12:04Yeah, so how does the Uber Eats guy
12:07find his way when it comes to getting in the clubhouse?
12:11Do they bring him right in and he drops it?
12:13It's in the notes.
12:14You put it in the notes, like, meet me at gate D.
12:16No, that's what I'm saying.
12:18Like, I don't know.
12:19Now, I'll Uber Eats stuff to the hotel
12:21before I get on the bus to go to the field.
12:23That's usually with me and my coffee,
12:25but yeah, I don't know about getting to the stadium
12:27because it's just like, you know,
12:28there's too many gates.
12:29There's too many ways in.
12:31Some stadiums, you're not even allowed
12:32in the general vicinity early.
12:34I guess just, yeah.
12:36Especially if you're rolling into, like,
12:37a full scooter mosquitoes,
12:38that may throw some red flags up.
12:41I would think Chipotle is a risky order
12:44when you're off the pitch still.
12:47I mean, it goes right through you.
12:48Unless you get it clean.
12:49I mean, I can't talk.
12:51My pregame meal was a,
12:54when I was, the last couple of years I've been healthy
12:56was a Philly cheesesteak and hot sauce
12:59and French fries and a Dr. Pepper.
13:00So I can't talk.
13:01No, no, not really.
13:03My recommendation would be to tell whoever the guy is
13:06to have one of their rookies bring it
13:07on their way to the stadium.
13:08That's what I used to do when I was a rookie player.
13:11I'm sure you did.
13:12That's bullying.
13:12I had to pick up Keyshawn's pub legs.
13:13The problem is the rookies have to get there so early
13:15that he's coming later.
13:16It's going to be cold.
13:17It's going to be gross.
13:18And those bowls don't handle,
13:20they can't sit that long.
13:21Oh, I didn't know the rookies got there early.
13:23That's why.
13:25That was bowls that you said in Australian accent.
13:29Confused, Courtney.
13:30Yeah, bowl, B-O-W-L-S.
13:33All right, well, it's going to be exciting Saturday.
13:36Ken and Curtis will be there doing their show.
13:38Bring Chipotle, whatever you need.
13:40I'm sure you are.
13:42I'm sure you are excited
13:43because we spoke to you at spring training
13:45and you were ready to get healthy
13:48and it sounds like you are
13:49and you're raring to go.
13:51Yeah, ready to go, ready to have a full season
13:53and yeah, ready to kind of come into camp
13:57as a competition for that back end piece.
14:00And that's all you can ask for.
14:02You get an opportunity, you get a uniform number
14:03and now you come in a chance to win a job.
14:05All right, well, we will not only see you Saturday
14:08but we will see you in Fort Myers last week of February.
14:12So thank you, Liam.
14:14Sounds good, guys.
14:15Come out to Fenway Fest, it should be a blast.
14:16All right, that is Liam Hendricks.
14:19Great guy.
14:20Great guy.
14:22I like the Uber Eats order to the stadium.
14:25Yeah.
14:25See, I would have a young guy bring it.
14:28But that is epically lazy.
14:29There's literally a Chipotle on Kilmarnock and Brookline.
14:32It's not even 200 yards.
14:34Yeah, but you gotta get your treatment and everything.
14:36That's why I didn't know rookies showed up so early.
14:39Usually you tell one of them,
14:41hey, here's my Chipotle order, don't mess it up.
14:44Because, you know,
14:45the guys are probably doing special things or whatever.
14:47You don't want to have to go out
14:48and fight the traffic in public.
14:50Did you have the same pregame meal
14:52every time before a game?
14:55No, no, no.
14:55We just ate whatever was in the hotel.