Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks participated in a bullpen session Tuesday at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Arizona, presented by the MLB Players' Association.
The MLBPA set up the camp for players like Hendriks to work out after the league announced the postponement of Opening Day last week.
MLB and MLBPA lawyers met Monday and MLB suggested a new deadline. If a deal is not reached by Tuesday, then MLB plans to cancel another week of games. The league's deadline strategy has been nothing but irritating for the closer.
"It's an interesting concept," Hendriks told ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. "It's been frustrating from a player's point of view."
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According to the Chicago Tribune, Hendriks has been throwing bullpen sessions since November. He said he's thrown five or six live bullpen sessions in the offseason.
Hendriks is one of the MLBPA's alternate reps and serves by keeping his teammates up to date as well as advocating for future players that will enter the league one day.
"We're trying to get to a point where we play a full season," he said. "But also understanding that we're not fighting for everything that's going to happen today. We're going to fight for the things that are going to happen five years from now.
"We're going to make sure those guys — they might not be on the 40-man (roster) or drafted yet — we're fighting for those guys' rights moving forward, making sure they're getting compensated for the amount of effort they're putting in."
MLB also announced Tuesday the launching of a $1 million fund to support spring training workers affected by canceled games. The amount matches the fund the players' association announced last week.
The White Sox signed Hendriks in January 2021 to a three-year, $54 million deal. He was the Reliever of the Month for May and September. Hendriks earned the save in the 2021 All-Star Game and became the first winning pitcher in Iowa after Tim Anderson led the Sox to victory in the Field of Dreams game.
Hendriks finished the season with an 8-3 record and led the American League in saves (38). He won the American League Reliever of the Year award for the second consecutive season.