MN Twins Bring Back Once-Dominant Reliever

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Liam Hendriks
Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers officially report for Spring Training Thursday, though all of them are already there. On February 20, they’ll play their annual exhibition game vs the Minnesota Gophers, before they kick off Grapefruit League action one day later vs Boston.

The starting rotation remains new manager Derek Shelton’s biggest strength, though the lineup still needs work and the bullpen enters spring in disarray. On Wednesday night, however, we may have gotten our first needle-moving transaction within Minnesota’s reliever core.

Liam Hendriks lands minor league deal with MN Twins

Liam Hendriks became an MLB star when he moved to the bullpen later on in his big league career. But before that, he was a struggling starter in the Minnesota Twins organization, after they signed him out of high school in 2007.

Now, according to reports, the 37-year-old is returning to where it all began on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Some say there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal, but the Twins hope landing Hendriks winds up being much more than that.

Over the course of his brief but impactful MLB career, Liam has posted a 3.88 ERA while collecting 116 total saves. After his move to the bullpen, Hendriks’ career ERA drops from 5.80 as a starter to 3.16 as a reliever, while his strikeouts per nine innings rose from 5.5 to 11.7.

Hendriks has overcome so much more than most realize. In 2023 he underwent treatment for Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He was diagnosed cancer-free later that year. Not long after, he underwent Tommy John surgery, then dealt with elbow soreness much of last season.

Let’s hope Hendriks have something left in the tank

After not pitching in 2024 and throwing just five innings in 2023, Liam Hendriks managed just 13 2/3 innings with the Boston Red Sox last season, posting a 6.59 ERA with stuff that was not what the league had become accustomed to seeing from the one-time flamethrowing closer.

However, Hendriks has serious All-Star cred and played in the mid-summer classic as recently as 2022. In fact, he earned Cy Young votes in 2020 and 2021, as a reliever.

Liam Hendriks is a fierce competitor who’s not shy about showing emotion on the mound, but he hasn’t pitched productively for three seasons.

Nonetheless, it would be a cool full-circle moment if he has enough in the tank help power the Minnesota Twins to a surprise success story in 2026.

Julian Merryweather joins MN Twins too

Hendriks wasn’t the only reliever to sign with the Twins on a minor league contract Wednesday. Julian Merryweather brings another tested veteran option to camp.

Merryweather has thrown in 152 games across six big league seasons. He spent each of the past three years with the Chicago Cubs. His best season was 2023 in which he posted a 3.38 ERA (3.52 FIP) with a 12.3 K/9.

Last year for Chicago Merryweather owned a 5.29 ERA (4.69 FIP) across just 18 2/3 innings. His 11 walks were a real problem and constantly had him backed against a wall. He will be trying to carve out a low-leverage spot in the Minnesota Twins bullpen.

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