Liam Hendriks

February 11, 2025

Closer committee possible

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Tuesday that he's open to the team using Hendriks and others in a closer by committee, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Analysis

The Red Sox would surely prefer for someone to emerge as the clear choice to close, whether that's Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock (elbow) or someone else, but if that doesn't happen they could use multiple guys in the role. Hendriks enters camp healthy and is viewed as the slight favorite to handle the ninth inning. However, he just turned 36 and made only six rehab appearances in 2024 after appearing in just five games in 2023, so it's uncertain how much rust may impact his performance, particularly early in the season.