Liam Hendriks may be eager to get down to Florida for his first normal spring training in years, but he doesn’t mind the cold Boston winter, either.

In fact, he kind of likes it. Despite the blustery 9 degree wind chill at Fenway Park on Wednesday morning and the fact that he grew up in the much-warmer climes of Perth, Australia, the veteran reliever wore shorts and a T-shirt to throw on the field with Red Sox teammate Richard Fitts.

“I enjoy it,” Hendriks said as he stood in the empty clubhouse, which will be open to fans at Saturday’s Fenway Fest. “It’s not for every day, but yeah, it’s not a bad little mix-in to get a little – get the blood flowing a little bit more, and then it’s like a natural contrast.”

The most inconvenient part of the Aussie’s ensemble was actually the warmest, a knit beanie.

“I started playing catch in the beanie, then realized I don’t have the neck dexterity to turn and try and figure out where Fitts is while I’m playing catch,” Hendriks said with a smile. “Had to take that off and then my ears froze, but other than that, we’re good.”

Many players dislike playing for MLB teams in the northeast because their open-air ballparks leave them unprotected from the chilly early-spring temperatures and April showers. After a shaky outing early last spring, then-Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen said he’d struggled due to a combination of cold weather, wind, and having to pitch with baseballs he felt hadn’t been rubbed-up enough.

Hendriks, however, sees the cold as a strategic benefit.

“No problem getting on the mound in April,” Hendriks said. “I actually enjoy pitching in the cold more, because one: you get the blood flowing a little bit in the ‘pen, you get everything going. And two: the hitters get to sit down and get cold and then have to try and hit. So actually, I think it’s a boon for a lot of pitchers, and I think the statistics kind of prove that with how, kind of slow starts in April.”

Comeback season

If Hendriks has his way, there will be nothing slow about his start to the ‘25 season. He hoped to be back on the mound last fall, but “a little” inflammation got in the way.

“I was close in the last week of the season,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t make the playoffs or anything like that, but if we were in that hunt then I would have been able to get back. I was close enough to get there.”

For now, he’s relishing going through a more typical offseason after being consumed with cancer treatments and Tommy John surgery rehab for most of the last two years.

“This one’s been nice, being able to just go to the facility and play catch,” he said.

Even with Jansen hitting free agency and his own success as a closer – he averaged 29 saves per season between 2019-22 – Hendriks doesn’t see himself automatically slotting into the closer role.

“I look at myself as a reliever, and if I win that job in spring training, then that’s what it is,” he said. “I think I saw something it was like 900 days or something ridiculous. Haven’t had a full season or too much work since ’22 so it’s been a while, and I don’t want to ever be given anything. I want to make sure I earn everything I get. So it’s going to be a competition come spring training between whoever they deem in that mix, and hopefully I get an opportunity.”

New teammates

Hendriks is pleased with how the Red Sox have navigated the offseason, though he joked that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been “a little biased towards lefties.”

“I love ‘em,” Hendriks said of the club’s moves. “I’ve reached out to every guy we’ve got, between Justin (Wilson) and Garrett (Crochet) and Aroldis (Chapman) and Walker (Buehler).

“Everyone seems pretty pumped to be here. I mean, getting an opportunity to play for the Boston Red Sox is not something that you should ever take lightly. And we’ve added a bunch of swing-and-miss, which is great, which is one thing that I think we really, not necessarily lacked, but we weren’t where we needed to be with that.”

Boston, MA – Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks speaks to the media at Fenway Park. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

In particular, Hendriks is looking forward to being teammates with Crochet again. They were in the Chicago bullpen together for three years before Hendriks became a free agent last offseason. Crochet then moved to the starting rotation in ‘24 and pitched his way to his first All-Star season.

“I was pumped,” Hendriks said of the blockbuster trade between the Sox teams at the MLB Winter meetings last month. “I’m excited for him to come out here and show Boston what he’s got. … He’s special, he’s fun to watch. He does some things that there’s not too many people that can do.”

“His stuff was incredible. I mean, you’ve got a lefty that can sit back and have that leg kick that he does and still throw 100 mph,” Hendriks raved. “When he was in the ‘pen with us he didn’t really have the tighter cutter that he started implementing a little bit more last year, so he had the bigger one. But he was just able to blow guys away… It’s just the big one to the small one, to the fastball, to the changeup. It’s just, the guy has a good feel for almost every pitch he throws, and it’s any pitch before he even starts throwing, he has a pretty good feel for it.”

Hendriks also lent insight into the new personalities joining the clubhouse.

“He’s really good for my self-esteem, because he giggles at everything, so it’s fantastic. But he’s also great, like he’s a fantastic human being,” Hendriks said of Crochet.

“I’ve heard from reaching out to different people, he’s great in the clubhouse,” Hendriks said of Chapman. “I’m really excited for what he can bring as far as that veteran Latin influence, especially on guys like (Brayan) Bello and some of these up-and-coming (players), with (Ceddanne Rafaela), and stuff like that.”

“(Buehler) brings an attitude that I think is going to be – that over-exuberant confidence and bordering on arrogance, and that’s just something that I think that’s going to be great. He’s got that winning attitude,” Hendriks said. “I think it’s going to be fantastic, and I hope it leeches off onto a lot of other people here.”

This weekend’s Fenway Fest will be the first large get-together for the ‘25 Red Sox. A total of 26 players are slated to attend, including Hendriks, Fitts, Crochet and Buehler. These offseason events are another thing Hendriks has been missing. Heading into his age-36 season and 14th year in the majors, he’s keenly aware that these days won’t last forever.

“This is my first fan fest since 2019 as well … maybe 2020,” he said. “I love these things. … Someone wants your autograph, it’s a privilege. You don’t get the opportunity to do this (for) your entire career.”