MLB Notebook: Red Sox' Liam Hendriks returns to the majors; Is Ceddanne Rafaela feeling the heat? A look down on the farm and around the league

Liam Hendriks has been counting down the days; it’s been 680 days since he made his final appearance for the White Sox in June 2023.

The Sox reliever is back on the 26-man roster, has completed his rehab in the minors, and is ready to contribute for Boston.

“I’m just excited for that adrenaline rush of the phone call,” Hendriks said. “That’s the thing that I think I’ve missed most about being here. Yeah, you’re around the guys, you’re around all this sort of stuff, but you don’t have that ‘oh, crap’ moment when the phone rings, no matter what your situation is, that kind of gets that heart going that extra little nth degree.”

While Hendriks has been out of action, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, he has been around the team, being in the clubhouse before games and hanging with his fellow relievers in the bullpen. Once Alex Cora calls down to the bullpen and asks for Hendriks to start loosening up, the righty will quickly go from a spectator to a big leaguer again.

“It’s going be interesting,” Hendriks said. “Obviously being out there, I need to be careful about maintaining some sort of connection to the game rather than being like, ‘OK, I’m out here in the bullpen,’ which I have been the entire time.

“Now it’s like, ‘At some point today, I may have to work.’ So kind of keeping that focus on that rather than kind of drifting off a little bit or being caught somewhat unawares.”

Hendriks began the year on the injured list due to a diagnosis of a compressed nerve in his right elbow. He received a cortisone shot in March, then made three minor league rehab appearances this month (two for Worcester, one for Portland) to get to the point where he was able to finally make his Red Sox debut.

SATURDAY'S HERO

Triston Casas was the hero on Saturday, sending the Red Sox home with a 4-3 win over the White Sox in extra innings.

Casas’ slow start has been shocking, entering Saturday’s win just 11-for-67 (.164) with 19 strikeouts. Boston is optimistic that Casas will soon find his rhythm at the plate and start making significant contributions.

"He has been actually swinging the bat well — more aggressive with more conviction,“ Cora said postgame. ”He took a walk today, which is important. In that situation, just put the ball in play. He has that (the Green Monster) that way. He did a good job staying with the pitch and got the W."

Casas has fallen down the Red Sox lineup, batting out of the seventh spot, and it’s taken some of the pressure off him.

“Sometimes, it does (let him relax), just because I get six batters just how to see the guy’s working,” Casas said. “I get to look at the characteristics of the fastballs or whatever pitches I’m hunting and get an idea of what part of the ball I’m looking for. Hitting fourth is great. I’m gonna have a lot of opportunity to drive in runs. But there’s gonna be opportunities all over, just like there was today.”

FEELING THE HEAT?

Roman Anthony is the consensus top prospect in baseball who has been bulldozing Triple-A pitching. As Anthony heads into the series finale with the Rochester Red Wings on Sunday, he’s gone 7-for-19 (.368) with two homers, a double, five RBI, five walks, and one stolen base this week.

The 20-year-old has been dealing with minor right shoulder soreness, and despite that, he continues to hit the ball at an aggressive clip and boasts a .371 BABIP, a .429 wOBA, and an elite 17.9 percent chase rate through 17 games with the WooSox.

Anthony has been limited to being the WooSox’ designated hitter over the last seven games and is expected to play the field next week.

With Ceddanne Rafaela’s slow start at the plate, Anthony is continuing to put himself into the conversation for a big league call-up in the near future.

Rafaela is hitting just .219 with one home run, one double, one triple, and 10 RBI this season. His three extra-base hits came over the last week, with his first double and homer coming in this weekend’s series against the White Sox. His first blast came off his bat at 105.2 mph on Friday night, launching the homer over the Green Monster. Over the last week, he’s shown life at the plate, slashing .240/.296/.480.

His chase rate continues to be troublesome, ranking at the bottom of the league at 46.2%, according to Statcast. Rafaela has also struck out 12 times with just four walks; his strikeout percentage through the first few weeks this season is at 17.1%.

“The offensive part of it, the swing is on point,” Cora said. “Now, it’s the approach, to be honest with you. There’s days we’re swinging a lot and others we’ve been more patient. More patient in spring training than during the regular season, swinging at the right ones, although he’s still chasing. It’s a long season. We just have to be patient with him.”

The Sox’ athletic outfielder isn’t letting the noise of a possible Anthony promotion faze him.

“I’m just going to keep working hard,” Rafaela said on Friday. “I’ve been feeling good; just the balls haven’t been dropping. I feel good to have that one today.”

Decisions will need to be made as to where every outfielder will slot on the roster and the bench. Anthony projects more as a left fielder, which would force Boston to slide Jarren Duran to center field, which would leave Rafaela looking for a position.

“We live in the now,” Cora said, referring to the Anthony noise in the media. “I know there’s good players in the minor leagues that will contribute at one point this season.”

Rafaela ranks tied for fourth with 4 defensive runs saved, trailing behind his fellow teammate Wilyer Abreu, who has 5 defensive runs saved, and Twins outfielder Harrison Bader, who leads the league with 7 defensive runs saved. The Curaçao native ranks highly in range/outs above average (97th percentile), arm strength (94th), sprint speed (83rd) and arm value (85th).

“He’s been doing a lot of good things for us,” said Cora. “It doesn’t have to be, always, offense. Defensively, he has to be top two or top three as far as defensive runs saved. He stops the running game. I think we’ve done an outstanding job with that in the outfield— stopping the running game. Defensively, he’s one of the best.”

DOWN ON THE FARM

The Red Sox will shuttle many different pitchers back and forth from Worcester to Boston over the course of the big league season. One reliever has been dominating out of the WooSox bullpen since the minor league season began a few weeks ago and could be the next man up if the Sox need pitching help.

Before camp broke in February, the Sox signed a handful of veterans in Matt Moore, Adam Ottavino, and Nick Burdi. The only one of the three remaining is Burdi, and he’s performed exceptionally well for the WooSox since the season's beginning. Burdi has recorded a 1.04 ERA, struck out 13 batters, allowed just seven hits, and walked one in 8 2/3 frames.

“He’s had a great season so far — kind of making hitters look silly," said Red Sox pitcher Michael Fulmer to MassLive, who was Burdi’s teammate with the WooSox to begin the year.

Burdi technically signed on Feb. 12; his minor league pact didn’t include an invitation to big league camp. He spent the entirety of camp on the minor league side, with the exception of one outing in a Grapefruit League game on March 17. The veteran righty retired all five Atlanta batters he faced on 18 pitches (13 strikes). He struck out two batters swinging and earned a save in the Sox’ 2-1 victory over the Braves.

The right-handed hurler pitched for the Yankees last season, making their Opening Day roster, and posted a 1.86 ERA, striking out 12 while walking nine over a career-high 12 appearances (9 2/3 innings). He averaged 97.5 mph on his fastball and offers a slider that sits in the upper 80s. A hip issue caused him to miss time last season.

Throughout his career, Burdi has experienced numerous injuries, including undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2017 and October 2020. He also underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2019. He missed a chunk of time in 2023 after an emergency appendectomy.

Burdi is healthy and has looked strong out of the bullpen for Worcester, and if he continues to look like a lockdown reliever for the WooSox, he could get the call to the bigs in the near future.

WORCESTER

Shane Drohan will look to go 3-0 on Sunday afternoon, taking the ball in the series finale against Rochester. Drohan has a 1.23 ERA, .120 BAA, and 0.89 WHIP in 14 2/3 innings. He's struck out 23 batters compared to seven walks.

A healthy Drohan, who is striking out batters at a 14.11% clip, will be valuable for the Red Sox down the stretch, offering the Sox another left-handed hurler out of the bullpen.

Brian Van Belle moved from the rotation to the bullpen, and he’s looked like an entirely different pitcher. He’s off to a hot start, recording a 1.13 ERA with eight strikeouts to one walk in eight innings of work. If he continues to pitch with this consistency, limiting free passes, he’s an intriguing bulk-inning relief option that could see time with Boston this summer.

In the second inning of the WooSox's resounding 20-7 victory on Friday afternoon, Marcelo Mayer hammered a grand slam. The 22-year-old's no-doubter hit 108 miles per hour and traveled 400 feet. He finished the day going 2-for-7 with seven RBIs in the afternoon.

PORTLAND

Sea Dogs starter Yordanny Monegro made his Double-A debut, making one start, and has appeared in two games. The 22-year-old has allowed just one earned run in 7 1/3 innings, compiling 15 strikeouts to just one walk and holding opponents to a .214 batting average. Monegro is another young Red Sox hurler on the rise and is someone to watch in the next handful of weeks.

GREENVILLE

Yophery Rodriguez is slashing .300/.451/.575 with one home run, two doubles, three triples, eight runs, six RBI, six walks, and a 1.026 OPS (40 at-bats).

Andy Lugo belted a 420-foot single to deep center on Saturday night, leading the Drive to a 10-9 win. The utility man is off to a quick start, hitting .273 (12-for-44) with a homer, five doubles, five RBI, and a .768 OPS in 12 games this season.

MEET HAYDEN MULLINS

Hayden Mullins has put together back-to-back tremendous starts to open the season. The southpaw owns a 1.38 ERA in three games (two starts) and has recorded 21 strikeouts against three walks with a 1.00 WHIP in 13 innings.

The 24-year-old grew up watching Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and J.D. Drew and following the 2007 championship team.

“The two guys that got me into baseball, my buddies that grew up down the street, Matthew and Andrew Doris, they are huge baseball fans, split family," said Mullins. "One half was Cubs, and one half was Red Sox. I just favored the Red Sox a little bit more, watching Pedroia, JD Drew, and all those guys. It was awesome. So they got me into baseball, and that's what kept it going. I just started following the Red Sox.”

Boston selected him with the 369th overall pick in the 12th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. He underwent Tommy John surgery after he was drafted and has been healthy since and is pitching his way into a possible promotion to Double-A Portland in the near future.

The lefty’s fastball sits between 91 and 94 mph and tops out at 95 mph. He also mixes in an 81-85 mph sweeping slider and a deceptive 83-85 mph changeup, according to his SoxProspects scouting report. His fastball has a lot of swing-and-miss action; despite that, Mullins just focuses on getting the ball in the zone.

“I haven't really ever worked on trying to develop more swing and miss or trying to get more chase out of any particular pitch,” said Mullins.

“It's always been get it in the zone, and that's what we're preaching here: throw everything through the heart of the zone, but have it move wherever it moves. So yeah, that's been the focus. But never really trying to create a swing and miss. Just let the swing and miss create itself.”

With Tommy John surgery behind him, Mullins didn’t lose any velocity on his fastball, but he’s feeling different on the mound.

“I wouldn't say throwing harder, but definitely feeling different," said Mullins. "The command was the last thing to come back; still working on that a little bit. But yeah, the ball just feels different in the hand, the arm swing, everything about the throwing motion; you have to relearn it. So definitely a different feeling.”

SALEM

This past offseason, the Pirates acquired Matt McShane in the trade that sent Chase Shugart to the Bucs. The righty has made a good first impression in the system, allowing one run (unearned) on four hits in four outings out of the bullpen. 

He's struck out 16 batters while walking two and still has a 0.00 ERA in 8 2/3 innings.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

- Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount of money for his actions on Thursday against the Rays.

Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike and later went to the clubhouse and posted his frustration on X.

"Not even f---ing close!!!!,” he posted and then later deleted.

- Cubs starter Justin Steele underwent successful UCL surgery. It’s a less serious procedure than Tommy John surgery, which entirely replaces the UCL.

It’s a big blow for the Cubs, who lose a starter and will focus on using internal options to fill out their rotation in the short term.

- Rowdy Tellez had a collision at first base on Saturday, laying out Blue Jays outfielder Alan Roden trying to make a play.

Roden rolled a grounder up the first-base line that was fielded by Mariners pitcher Collin Snider, but when Snider tried to throw around the runner’s body, it forced him into Tellez’s path.

The Blue Jays outfielder wasn’t hurt but needed to catch his breath and remained in the game.

Tellez played the hero in the Mariners 8-4 win over the Blue Jays, hitting a grand slam in extra innings.

In that same game, benches cleared after Blue Jays starter José Berríos accused Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh of stealing signs. Berrios felt Raleigh was relaying signs from second base to the hitter.

“They thought I was relaying,” Raleigh said after the game. He denied that he stole signs. Berríos confronted Raleigh after the top of the fourth inning, causing both benches to clear.

“I didn’t feel like the benches were going to go out, but between the hitter and I, it’s a war,” Berríos said. “I am there by myself, and I know that hitters can take advantage of many people. As a pitcher, I can’t let that happen.”

- Shohei Ohtani became a dad this week after his wife delivered their first child Saturday.

"I am so grateful to my loving wife, who gave birth to our healthy, beautiful daughter," Ohtani wrote in an Instagram post. "To my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents."

- Speaking of Ohtani, Browns general manager Andrew Berry compared NFL draft prospect Travis Hunter to MLB’s biggest star.

The two-way star wants to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL.

"I don't see it that way. I think it's—and I'm going to use a [cross-sport analogy] now—it's a little bit like [Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei] Ohtani, right?" Berry said at his pre-draft press conference, as reported by ProFootballTalk. "Where he's playing one side, he's an outstanding player. If he's a pitcher or he's a hitter, he's an outstanding player. You obviously get a unicorn if you use him both ways."

Berry thinks Hunter can be like Ohtani because of his conditioning.