Jays reliever gets support from afar
Right-hander Hendriks found his own calling away from father’s game in Australia
Toronto Blue Jays reliever Liam Hendriks has appeared in 64 games in the major leagues over parts of five seasons. Unfortunately, his dad, Geoff, has never seen him play a regular-season game live in the bigs.
Of course, living 18,143 kilometres away from where Liam plays doesn’t exactly make attending games easy.
Geoff Hendriks is a principal at an agricultural college outside of Perth, in far off Western Australia, while his son Liam plays professional ball for the Blue Jays. So while they meet up in the offseason when Liam gets home, Geoff has been unable to watch his son play in the majors. Not that the old man isn’t there in spirit.
“We talk three or four times a week,” said Liam, sitting in his stall in the Jays clubhouse before Saturday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles. As if on cue, Hendriks’ phone rings. “Speak of the devil,” the right-handed pitcher said. It’s his dad. He’ll call him back later. Hendriks has enjoyed a breakout year for the Jays. In 31⅔ innings (25 games), he has posted an ERA of 2.84, with a 2-0 record. In outings of more than one inning, Hendriks has an ERA of 1.35 and has held right-handed hitters to seven hits over their last 51 at-bats (. 137 average) dating back to April 28. Part of the reason for his success this year is that he has ramped up his fastball and the fact that he’s being used consistently in the bullpen and not as a spot starter.
“He’s come a long way. Now that he’s a bullpen guy, his stuff’s better,” Jays manager John Gibbons. “He has been primarily a starter, he started for us in triple-A, made a couple of starts last year. His game was pinpoint control and he was really good at it. But we put him the bullpen in spring training and everything just kicked up a little bit.”
Hendriks is in his second stint with the Jays, having been claimed off waivers from the Orioles in February 2014. Last July, Toronto traded him, along with Erik Kratz, to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Danny Valencia. And then in October, he was traded back to the Jays for catcher Santiago Nessy, who’s batting .185 for double-A Northwest Arkansas — one of the more unsung moves GM Alex Anthopoulos made in the off-season.
“Just getting a little bit more aggressive,” said Hendriks, when asked what the difference has been this season. “And obviously the velocity definitely helps, but being able to locate my fastball and command my slider off of that has been a big deal.”
Last season, his fastball averaged 91.3 m.p.h., up from 90.6 in 2013. This year, he’s averaging 94. The personable Aussie said he didn’t do anything different in the off-season, save for some Pilates two to three times a week with his wife.
“My velocity has been consistent and I’m working at keeping it that way,” he said. “I think it has always been in there, but it has never been full harnessed and that’s what I’ve been able to do this year with a little bit more of an aggressive approach.”
An aggressive approach is nothing new for Hendriks when it comes to sports. Growing up, his No. 1 sport wasn’t baseball, but rough-and-tough Australian Rules Football. In fact, the 26-year-old was once on the U15 national teams for both Aussie rules and baseball and actually preferred football.
“Football was everything,” the 6-foot, 200 pounder said. “That was all I really cared about growing up. I played a lot of sports, but Australian Rules Football was the main one, almost up until the day I signed.”
He signed with the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 2007 and made his MLB debut in September 2011. And though he’s rounding into a solid majorleague reliever, he still misses playing Aussie rules.
Growing up, Hendriks wanted to follow his dad and play Aussie rules. Geoff Hendriks was drafted into the Victoria Football League and played most of his career in the West Australian Football League from the time he was 16 until 25.
“His nickname was Chronic, because he was always hurt,” Hendriks said. “That sport just takes a toll on your body.”