Monday Night,
March 1, 2010
Spring Training
Q&A:
Twins Pitching
Prospect Liam Hendriks
·
If you were
unable to watch my appearance on Fox
9’s Sports on Demand with Seth
Kaplan and Phil Mackey.
·
John
Bonnes will be a guest (along with Joe Testa) on
tonight’s
Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast. On Tuesday morning, Bonnes will
be a guest on the KFAN Power Trip Morning
Show at 7:20 a.m (1130 am or KFAN.com).
Back again
with another installment of the Spring Training Q&As. This time, we will learn a little more about Liam Hendriks.
The Twins right handed pitching prospect missed all of 2008 because of a spinal
injury. In 2009, he came back slowly, but quickly moved up to Beloit after
starting games at Elizabethton. Hendiks is a
right-hander, proud of being from Western Australia. He has good stuff and very
good control. He is a guy that is definitely worth following in 2010.
Here is tonight’s Q&A with
Twins pitcher, Liam Hendriks!
(To see all previous SethSpeaks.net Q&As, click here) (and feel free to leave
questions or comments here)
…Let the Questions Begin!
SethSpeaks: Now that you’ve had a few months to look back and reflect,
what are your thoughts on your 2009 season? What did it feel like to get back
on the mound after missing the 2008 season??
Liam Hendriks: It
was amazing being back on the mound. I thought my season went well I had some
good defense behind me which really helped and I loved being in a team where we
got to play night games instead of the 12 o’clock nightmare games of the GCL.
Ha ha!
SethSpeaks: What do you do when you’re not playing baseball or
working out in preparation for the upcoming season?
Liam Hendriks: Mainly
hanging out with friends. I still go down to my local team back in Perth,
Western Australia, and help coach some of the younger kids as well as the
senior players at the club.
I was pitching coach for our seniors top team this
year so that kept me busy on the weekends, and I was also in the gym a lot. I
just love it. Ha ha
SethSpeaks: When did you start getting ready for the 2010 season, and
what was your routine?
Liam Hendriks: I’ve
been throwing since early January just trying to get back in a rhythm. I was
shut down from playing this year so it gave me a chance to get more running and
some more gym sessions in with James Beresford.
SethSpeaks: What are your
goals for the 2010 season? Where would you like to play, and are there any
statistics that you are looking to improve?
Liam
Hendriks: I
would like to start in high A, but I’m thinking I might start in low A and then
have to perform to hopefully get a call up mid season, maybe a winning record?
That would be nice but mainly just to keep throwing strikes and getting outs
without walking too many and being able to get some quick innings to keep my
pitch count low so I can go deeper into games.
SethSpeaks: What does spring training mean for you, and what are you
looking forward to this year?
Liam
Hendriks: Spring
training is a chance for me to get back on the mound in game situations. I’ve
missed it a lot this offseason. It’s going to be good to catch up with everyone
and talk about the offseason what people got up to etc.
SethSpeaks: Who was your
favorite player to watch when you were growing up?
Liam
Hendriks: Coming
from an Australian Rules Football background, I never
really got into baseball and had never even heard of it until I started playing
it as a kid. Once I found out what it was I always idolized guys that didn’t
have the best velocity or best stuff but just battled up there, and it gave me
something to really strive towards. Some of the players I looked up to I’m now
playing with and against; guys like Luke Hughes, Paul Mildren,
Graeme Lloyd and guys that I could relate to because they were Australian.
SethSpeaks: What team did you grow up watching and cheering for?
Liam Hendriks: As
I said before, wasn’t much of a baseball fan, but I must admit I went for the
Red Sox just to spite everyone else in Australia going for the Yankees.
SethSpeaks: What were your thoughts as you were considering signing
with the Twins?
Liam Hendriks: I
was ecstatic with the farm system the Twins have got. It was a definite plus
for me. I had other teams interested but most dropped out after I did my knee
for the second time just before signing. I think in the long run it was a good
sign that the clubs that did stick around did. It meant that they really
thought I was worth something.
SethSpeaks: Best thing of career in baseball?
Liam Hendriks: The travel and meeting new people. Just last year alone I
went through AZ, FL, WI, TN, Mexico, Czech Republic, Italy.
Just in places I remembered. I’m sure I went through others while in Beloit as
well. It’s awesome being able to meet people from different cultures as well
and knowing people in places that I might go to travel one day.
SethSpeaks: Toughest thing about career in baseball?
Liam Hendriks: The
toughest thing is the workload. It’s a tough gig, especially in Spring training and extended; being up early and then
training in the heat and then knowing you have to do this for another couple of
months.
SethSpeaks: Funniest story in your minor league career?
Liam Hendriks: Funniest
story, I’m not sure. There are a couple I’m not
allowed to say. But there were a couple while in extended one year with an
ex-Twin Elliot Biddle, an Australian guy. We all went to a big league game at
Tropicana Field to see the Rays play the Twins and before the game a lot of the
Latins were talking to Johan Santana, and Elliot went
up and said hello and wanted a photo. Johan thought he was Latin and started
talking to him in Spanish. Ha ha. I still don’t think
he has heard the end of it.
SethSpeaks: What would it mean to make your big league debut?
Liam
Hendriks: It
would be an amazing experience just to be called a big leaguer, with the amount
of people you had to beat to get that spot over the years. I heard a stat about
it, not sure if it’s true or not, but something like 2% of all pro players make
the big leagues. To be part of that would be amazing. Also because Australian
baseball isn’t big, it would hopefully help to promote the sport back there and
attempt to get more people involved with it, and get some big crowds to some of
the games
Thank you to Liam Hendriks for taking time to respond. If you would like, you can e-mail me, or feel free to leave
your comments here.