I'm starting off 2023 with an unconventional pick. It's not that Liam Hendriks isn't a very good player--he's one of the best closing pitchers in the game. He's also really fun to watch because he's very passionate and animated on the mound. One of the highlights of the 2022 All-Star Game was when Hendriks was "Mic'd Up" although I'm guessing the network wished they had muted him.
Hendriks is a favorite of LGBTQ+ baseball fans for his very vocal allyship. That was a big part of why he won the MLBoyfriend title last year during Pride Month.
So, Hendriks seems like a natural choice to be the first MLBoyfriend of 2023. Except he didn't pitch at all during the opening week for the worst reason. In January, Hendriks announced that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and would be starting treatment.
Being the beast that he is, Hendriks managed to show up for spring training while he was undergoing his cancer treatments. The good news is that Hendriks has started his last round of chemotherapy today.
A special message from Liam Hendriks: pic.twitter.com/kSE1bjBkZD
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 3, 2023
Another encouraging sign is that the White Sox have placed Hendriks on the 15-day IL rather than the 60-day IL. While it doesn't seem likely he'll be back on the mound in two weeks, it sure would be great to see him pitching in May. In the meantime, you can help Liam and his wife Kristi raise funds for the Lymphoma Research Foundation by clicking here and buying one of his "Close Out Cancer" shirts--I just got one for myself.
Congratulations to Liam Hendriks! You are my first MLBoyfriend of 2023 because what you're doing off the field is much more important that anything that happened on the field this week. That said, I can't wait to see you pitching again.
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