It’s been a long road back from Tommy John surgery, but Liam Hendriks cleared one of his final checkpoints before returning to the mound on Wednesday when he threw his third and final live bullpen session.

As long as he bounces back well, the expectation is he will now begin a rehab assignment in Worcester over the weekend.

“Every one is getting better, still a lot of things for me to work on but I think the biggest thing for me is I need consequences,” Hendriks said. “I need runners on, I need a strike zone, I need umpires, I need that sort of stuff.”

The 35-year-old closer threw approximately 25 pitches to Romy Gonzalez and Mickey Gasper, sitting around 93-94 mph on the radar gun while working in all of his offspeed offerings. He gave up a couple of base hits, but Cora said his performance was encouraging.

“I’m not saying he’s going to be a guy that will come here and be a savior of the bullpen, but he will contribute,” Cora said. “We still have to be patient but we are almost there.”

Hendriks hasn’t pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of 2023, and prior to that he only appeared in five games for the Chicago White Sox last season after battling — and beating — cancer. Before those two crushing setbacks Hendriks ranked among the top relief pitchers in baseball, earning three All-Star nods and two American League Reliever of the Year honors between 2019-22.

Cora also noted how fitting it was Hendriks’ final bullpen came on the same day the Red Sox was holding its annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, which raises millions of dollars for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“Getting a chance to be part of the Jimmy Fund stuff is great,” Hendriks said. “I based my day upon making sure I was out there for the photo and making sure I could see some of the patients out there today, which was really cool to be a part of.”