Liam Hendriks

[twinsnorth49]

Liam Hendriks

 

RHP, No.20, Minnesota Twins

 

Born- February 10, 1989 (age 23), Perth Australia

 

Signed as an Amateur Free Agent by Minnesota in 2007

 

Twins 2011 Minor League Pitcher of the Year

 

2011 Minors- 12-6 in 25 starts, 3.36 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, 111 K's, 21 BB's, 5.28:1 K/BB.

 

2011 MLB Stats- 0-2 in 4 starts, 6.17 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 16K's, 6 BB's, 2.66:1 K/BB.

 

Started with the big club after Jason Marquis was unable to start the season, likely headed to Rochester but now looks to stay with the Twins after the surgery to Scott Baker. Had a strong Spring Training and was going to be the first available call-up had he started in Rochester.

 

A four pitch guy with good control, not a lot of heat on the fastball but has an excellent change-up and throws 2 good breaking balls with his slider and curveball. Shown the ability to strike guys out with a good mix of pitches, good location and change of speeds.

 

So far this year, was very unlucky to miss 1st start with a bout of food poisoning. Went 6 strong against the Rangers, leaving with 1 run on 7 hits and 4 K's to 0 BB's. Was in line for his 1st win until bullpen coughed up 3-1 lead.. Had a decent outing against the Rays going 5.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits with 1 K and 2 BB.

 

Hendriks looks to be sticking with the Twins for now and could be key to providing some much needed depth. If he can continue to keep command of his pitches and stay ahead of batters he could have a solid year and be in line for his 1st win soon.

 

Next start is this Wednesday, April, 25 vs Boston, matching up against Clay Buchholz. Good luck Liam!

[twinsnorth49]

Hendriks gets the start tonight against Buchholz looking for his 1st major league win. Twins desperately need at least 6 innings out of the young pitcher tonight. Let's get it done Liam!

[gmarais66]

I think Hendriks, along with Pavano, have been the only bright spots in the Twins' rotation so far this season... He has good control and mixes his pitches/speeds well... He doesn't seem to get flustered when he gets in trouble... Let's hope he stays on track as the season progresses...

[StormJH1]

Saw on Twitter that Bobby V had to submit the Red Sox lineup twice because he thought that Hendriks was left handed. Not sure if that's a worse sign for Bobby V or the strength of our rotation...

[twinsnorth49]

Tough, tough night for our young prospect, 4 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 3K, 2BB...........................ouch!!!

 

Just didn't have his location tonight and admitted he got away from the game plan, 13/22 first pitch strikes and plenty of 2-0 counts made things awfully tough on himself. The 15 pitch at bat by Gonzalez seemed to take a toll on him, could have been a little different if he had been able to put him away a lot earlier. Went down 1-0 to Alviles with 2 on and 2 out, threw a bad pitch, deep hole, never recovered.

 

Let's put this one away and come back strong next game.

[twinsnorth49]

Another tough night for our young prospect, lasted just 2 1/3 and didn't really do much of anything right. Bad location, bad pitch selection and made a couple of rookie mistakes allowing base runners to advance rather easily.

 

It's really too bad that Hendriks is in this position, he's clearly not ready to assume such heavy responsibility. While he possesses a pretty good arsenal of pitches, he is still adjusting to the much more important mental side of the game at the major league level. His command is not always what it should be and he leaves far too many pitches in places you just can't with major league hitters. I believe that comes from him feeling the pressure to be perfect and not trusting is stuff, he lacks the confidence right now to get ahead of batters and stay there, to go after them and believe he can get them to swing at what he wants them to swing at.

 

I'd really like to see Hendriks head back down to Rochester, although the season has only just begun, the way things are looking it would be more beneficial to move Swarzak into the rotation and let Hendriks work on his game in AAA. I still believe he can pitch effectively for this team someday.

[twinsnorth49]

Well our young prospect had gone back to where he should have started and hopefully he can build something solid going forward. Really the best move for Hendriks, it's where he should be, no slight on his ability, just not ready. I commend him for trying to hang in there and do what he could do to help the team, it was expecting a lot.

 

I'm looking forward to reporting some strong performances down in Rochester and I hope to possibly see Hendriks up again in the fall.

[twinsnorth49]

Hendriks is 1-0 since returning to Rochester with a 1.54 ERA and a 12/4 K/BB ratio in 11.2 innings. With the latest disaster from Jason Marquis and another likely one coming from Nick Blackburn, who knows what is in store for Hendriks if he continues to pitch well.

[StormJH1]

Hendriks is 1-0 since returning to Rochester with a 1.54 ERA and a 12/4 K/BB ratio in 11.2 innings. With the latest disaster from Jason Marquis and another likely one coming from Nick Blackburn, who knows what is in store for Hendriks if he continues to pitch well.

Thanks for the updates. Hendriks, moreso than the vast majority of these "adopted prospects" is going to get changes in the bigs this year. As bad as he was on the first go-round, he's 23 years old and we don't have that many arms left. Diamond and Walters have stopped the bleeding, but if he keeps up the good work at AAA, I'm sure he'll be up again soon.

 

Didn't see much of the few starts he had, but I guess the one thing encouraging about him is that he's been an 8.2 K/9 guy over 5 minor league seasons. And actually, you could argue that his minor league resume is more impressive than Scott Baker's was, both in terms of K's and avoiding walks, and Baker turned out to be a pretty effective MLB starter, when healthy.

[twinsnorth49]

Thanks for the updates. Hendriks, moreso than the vast majority of these "adopted prospects" is going to get changes in the bigs this year. As bad as he was on the first go-round, he's 23 years old and we don't have that many arms left. Diamond and Walters have stopped the bleeding, but if he keeps up the good work at AAA, I'm sure he'll be up again soon.

 

Didn't see much of the few starts he had, but I guess the one thing encouraging about him is that he's been an 8.2 K/9 guy over 5 minor league seasons. And actually, you could argue that his minor league resume is more impressive than Scott Baker's was, both in terms of K's and avoiding walks, and Baker turned out to be a pretty effective MLB starter, when healthy.

I agree, I think we'll see Hendriks again maybe sooner than later, he's not a whole lot different than Diamond in what he can offer, he just needs to work on not leaving the ball up and not missing his spots. That and maybe a little lack of movement on his fastball were the major issues when he was up and in his defense he pitched a decent game against the Rangers when Perkins blew up.

 

People don't seem to have much faith in him but you're right, he's 23, has the ability to SO batters and doesn't give up many free passes.

[twinsnorth49]

Hendriks improved to 2-0 last night in his 3rd start since arriving back in Rochester. He went 7 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 SO and 2 BB as the Red Wings defeated Louisville 5-3.

 

In 3 games he now has an ERA of 1.94 in 18.2 innings and an impressive 14 SO.

 

Nice work Liam!

[twinsnorth49]

Been awhile, apologies. Most of you likely know this by now but Hendriks had another great outing in his last start vs Gwinnett back on May, 24th. He went inning for inning with Braves starter Yohan Flande, going a very strong 7, allowing 1 earned run off 5 hits with 9K's and 2 BB's. The Red Wings won 3-1.

 

In 4 games Hendriks is now 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA, 23 K/ 8 BB in 25.2 innings pitched. Impressively he has only given up 15 hits over that period and sports a very impressive 8.2K/9 line in that short span, obviously a small sample that won't project but positive to see nonetheless.

 

Hendriks is on the mound again tonight in Charlotte against the Knights. Good luck Liam, keep it up and we'll see you at Target Field again soon.

 

On an unrelated note, June 2nd is George "The Animal" Steel day at Frontier Field, bring the kids.....................I love minor league baseball!!!!

[CDog]

On an unrelated note, June 2nd is George "The Animal" Steel day at Frontier Field, bring the kids.....................I love minor league baseball!!!!

That made my day.

[twinsnorth49]

Hendriks got roughed up last night in Charlotte. 5.0 innings 7 hits, 6 earned runs, including 2 HR, 1 SO, 2 BB. He did throw 53 strikes on 86 pitches, sounds like too many over the wrong part of the plate, which was his problem with the big club. Oh well, might be awhile yet, see how he rebounds next time out, not the end of the world by any means.

[greengoblinrulz]

the Twins take WAY more interest in keeping a guy down due to a single bad game than they give credit to someone for weeks of good perfomrance that should have ya thinking about promoting a guy.

[Top Gun]

Hendriks had his chance and blew it, now he can wait his turn. The barn is full!

[Falcon25]

At 23 Hendriks still has much to learn but 3 and almost 4 quality starts (1out shy of a quality start) out of 5 starts at AAA suggests he is learning and giving himself every chance of putting himself in line for the next call up when opportunity presents. It would be good to see how he rebounds from his last start although for those who follow it closely will know that he was pretty sick but still chose to pitch against Charlotte. He is determined.

[twinsnorth49]

Our young prospect rebounded from his flu induced poor outing last week by posting a 7 inning complete game(rain delayed doubleheader) shutout over the Columbus Clippers last night to improve his record to 4-0. Hendriks gave up 4 hits, struck out 8 and walked one, it was his 1st career pro shutout.

 

In 6 games Hendriks sports a 2.39 ERA, 32 SO, 11 BB while giving up 26 hits over 37.2 innings. Way to rebound Liam!

[glunn]

If you were the pitching coach, what pitch would you suggest that Liam develop as his "out" pitch. When I saw him pitch in Anaheim (the night that Weaver shut the Twins out), Hendriks seemed to lack any pitch that is even moderately filthy. Maybe he will always be a control guy who can change speeds, but it would be nice of he could develop an "out" pitch.

[twinsnorth49]

If you were the pitching coach, what pitch would you suggest that Liam develop as his "out" pitch. When I saw him pitch in Anaheim (the night that Weaver shut the Twins out), Hendriks seemed to lack any pitch that is even moderately filthy. Maybe he will always be a control guy who can change speeds, but it would be nice of he could develop an "out" pitch.

I'm not sure Hendriks will ever have a single pitch filthy enough to be his defacto "out" pitch, I'm also not sure he needs one. His biggest strength is his ability to mix 5 different pitches, his success depends on how well he throws those pitches, particularly his breaking pitches and his change-up. I think when he was up earlier he wasn't throwing those pitches very effectively, bad location when he did throw them for strikes but mostly missing for balls. The LAA game in Anaheim was the culmination of that, hitters were waiting to see if he could locate those pitches and when he couldn't they jumped on him, he had to go to his fastballs far too often and they became predictable, especially for major league hitters. He was also leaving many of those far to high in the zone.

 

The upside is he is mowing guys down at AAA, if he keeps working and gets the rotation on those breaking pitches tighter it sets up his fastballs and subsequently his change-up. All of those could be out pitches if he sets guys up the way he is now and brings the confidence and self belief he is currently showing with him when he returns to the Twins.

[twinsnorth49]

Hendriks continued his dominating play at AAA with another impressive outing for Rochester yesterday. Our prospect went 8.2 innings, allowing no runs on 3 hits with 10 SO and 2 BB, he came up one out shy of a complete came shutout before being relieved in the Red Wings 2-0 win. Liam improves to 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA over 46.1 innings in 7 starts, over that time he has given up a measly 29 hits while striking out 42 and walking 13. He has not given up a run in his last 15 2/3 innings pitched.

 

Hendriks commented in an MILB interview that establishing his fastball is one of the major keys to his recent success. Yesterday against Indianapolis he threw 1st pitch strikes to 9 of the first 10 batters he faced and 19 of 30 overall. Clearly that is something he was missing when he was up with the Twins, something that could be attributed to nothing more than a lack of confidence that he seems to be regaining.

 

I think that is what ultimately keeps Hendriks up here, along with his great mix of pitches. It all works off his fastball though, if he can work both sides of the plate with it, keep it down and focus on going after the hitter instead of trying to be perfect then all his other pitches take care of themselves and he is certain to have success.

[greengoblinrulz]

What to do with Liam??

7 shutout innings in getting the win on SAT.

6w in 8starts @ ROC w/53.1 IP 34h (.183BAA) 1.69ERA 43k 14bb

Dominating the older players in AAA but cant turn the corner. Feels to me that the big league staff has lost confidence in him (with his numbers, no surprising). Is he a guy who may be dealt as MN organization seems very frutstrated with him....seems absurd with our lack of pitching, but I get a feeling this could happen if he doesnt turn it aroung with his 3rd shot this year (whenever it is).

[Falcon25]

What to do with Liam??

7 shutout innings in getting the win on SAT.

6w in 8starts @ ROC w/53.1 IP 34h (.183BAA) 1.69ERA 43k 14bb

Dominating the older players in AAA but cant turn the corner. Feels to me that the big league staff has lost confidence in him (with his numbers, no surprising). Is he a guy who may be dealt as MN organization seems very frutstrated with him....seems absurd with our lack of pitching, but I get a feeling this could happen if he doesnt turn it aroung with his 3rd shot this year (whenever it is).

You can never say never about what the club will do but at 23 years of age I think it is very premature to be thinking that the club is thinking along those lines. As many writers have suggested, it takes time to develop both the mental and physical side of the game. Scott Diamond who is pitching up a storm is 26 while other relative newcomers to major league in Walters and De Vries are both 27 and Deduno is 29. I am sure they are not the same pitchers they were at 23.

[greengoblinrulz]

those guys never dominated AAA the way Liam currently does.......just dont think MN will wait thru 2 more yrs of dominating minor leaguers if he cant help the big club.

[drjim]

He'll get another chance in the bigs really soon.

[greengoblinrulz]

He'll get another chance in the bigs really soon.

No question he'll get another shot this yr....sooner than later. If they are gonna go with PJ Walters & his 5.4 ERA or Sam Deduno after the break, it'll catch up with them eventually. Need another starter w/Liriano is dealt

[greengoblinrulz]

Tonight 7IP 3h 2er 5k 0bb 92 pitches...what to do, what to do

[DPJ]

Just commit to this kid and let everyone kind out if he's a backend starter or not.

 

This is what bad teams do, you play the youth to see if they have a future with your club.

[greengoblinrulz]

Ho Hum

Another 7 innings shutout performance by Hendriks 4h 4k 1bb 104pitches

Now has a 1.99ERA in AAA in 99.1 innings which, after tonight, will lead the league in ERA (will be 2IP above minimum)

2nd in WHIP w/ 0.95 in Lg also

[Top Gun]

Well he is 0-5 7.04era 1.75 whip for the Twins and that is all that matters. You can't have that, he is worst than Nishi.