CHICAGO — As one of the biggest battles of his life concludes, Liam Hendriks is taking a big step on his next journey in 2023.

That’s a return to the White Sox bullpen, and Friday featured another major moment to achieving that goal.

After finishing his treatments for Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hendriks will begin his first rehab assignment with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He’ll join that club on the road Friday as they face Gwinnett in the fourth of a six-game series.

It’s expected that Hendriks will take the mound on Friday for the Knights and will make 4-to-5 appearances in Triple-A before joining the White Sox. An official date for a return to the major league club has yet to be set.

Hendriks began treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on January 9 and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy through April 5. Fifteen days after that, the pitcher announced on Instagram that he was cancer-free.

Speaking with reporters for the first time on Wednesday, Hendriks elaborated on his mindset while going through the three months of treatments.

“I never self-involved and looked into it as a ‘Why Me’ thing, I looked at it as a ‘Why Not Me,'” said Hendriks. “I tend to have a little rosier perspective on life. That was my process behind this. I’m like, ‘Look, I’ve got this. This is my next challenge,’ and we started looking into ways to that we can make good of this.”

Hendriks along with his wife Kristi, who was with him every step of the treatments, teamed up with the Lymphoma Research Foundation to raise money for others battling the disease.