The Red Sox announced this afternoon that right-hander underwent succe sful right elbow ulnar nerve transposition surgery today, as relayed by . A timeline for Hendrikss recovery was not announced. Hendriks, 36, was shut down with forearm tightne s earlier this month. The right-hander has recorded just 18 2/3 innings over the past three seasons due to a battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, as well as Tommy John surgery. He returned to Dayne Davis Jersey the mound in April of this year for the Red Sox, but was sidelined by what was initially described as hip inflammation, though Hendriks later clarified he was diagnosed with a hernia that eventually turned out to be an abdominal strain. Whatever the ailment that sidelined him throughout the summer was, Hendriks was on the way towards a return before the aforementioned tightne s in his forearm cropped up. That tightne s led to todays surgery, which is a somewhat common follow-up procedure after Tommy John surgery. As by Cotillo, Hendrikss Red Sox teammate underwent the same procedure in 2023. After going under the knife at the beginning of May that year, he returned to a big league mound just under five months later at the tail end of September. If Hendriks were to follow a similar recovery timeline, that would allow him to be only slightly delayed coming into Spring Training 2026 and may not impact his availability for next years Opening Day at all. Whether that return to the mound will come with the Red Sox or in another organization is up in the air. The club and Hendriks hold a mutual option for the 2026 season valued at $12MM, but mutual options virtually never get exercised and it seems all but certain the Red Sox will decline their end of the option and instead pay Hendriks a $2MM buyout as he returns to the free agent market. Once there, it will be interesting to see how hes valued by the rest of the league. The rightys lack of innings in recent years, laundry list of injury woes, and ugly 6.59 ERA when he was healthy enough to pitch for the Red Sox this year might make him seem like an arm who wont be able to garner more than a minor league offer. Hendrikss value cannot be so easily dismi sed, however. After all, this is a pitcher who was on the shortlist for the very best relief arms in all of baseball the last time he was truly healthy. From 2019 to 2022, Hendriks made three All-Star games and twice received MLBs Reliever of the Year award for his stellar work out of the bullpen. In that four-year stretch, Hendriks posted a dazzling 2.26 ERA with an even better 2.13 FIP, struck out 38.8% of his opponents, and collected 114 saves. Even with Hendrikss age and injury history, a player with a track record that elite is bound to garner some serious interest from bullpen-needy clubs. After all, had a similar three-year stretch of injury woes from 2020 to 2022 before he turned things around to post a 2.21 ERA with Atlanta and Texas in his age-36 and -37 seasons. threw just 18 2/3 innings between 2019 and 2021 before enjoying a resurgence with the Cubs in 2022 that has extended his career past his fortieth birthday. will celebrate his 38th birthday tomorrow, while will do the same in February. Neither age nor years of injury woes are nece sarily a death knell for an elite relievers career, and there will surely be teams interested in rolling the dice on Hendriks this winter to see if he can be the next injured hurler to recapture his All-Star form in his late thirties. Cole Anthony Jersey