When will Liam Hendriks return to White Sox bullpen this season?

Man, this stinks. Just a couple of weeks after making his emotional and triumphant return to the mound following a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Liam Hendriks is headed back to the injured list with elbow inflammation.

In a corresponding move, the team recalled lefty Tanner Banks from Triple-A Charlotte. Hendriks last pitched on Friday, firing a clean ninth inning and picking up a win — on National Cancer Survivors Day, no less. He’d made five appearances since coming back to the active roster, posting a 5.40 ERA (85 ERA+) with two wins and a save.

Liam Hendriks injury update

The White Sox have yet to announce any sort of timetable for Hendriks’ return, and we likely won’t know more about how serious the situation is until the All-Star undergoes more testing. Hopefully there’s nothing structurally wrong and it’s just a bit of inflammation after a long layoff, but it is worth noting that Hendriks dealt with a right forearm strain around this time last year — and revealed he had a tear in his UCL.

“I’ve had a tear in my UCL since ‘08,” Hendriks told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s been there, that’s been manageable. I’ve been able to deal with it. But over the course of this year, my elbow has been constantly inflamed a little more than usual.”

Hendriks missed around three weeks with that previous strain; a similar timeline here would put his return around the All-Star break, though the team will obviously play it safe considering the righty’s health issues over the past few months.