After 680 days out of the game, Liam Hendriks finally gets to stop the clock and start anew.

“That’s the exact number of days I was gone,” the veteran right-hander, 36, said in the Red Sox clubhouse on Saturday, after being activated from the injured list. “Since June 9 of 2023, 680 days to today.”

Hendriks’ last normal season was 2022. Since then, he’s missed time due to Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer and Tommy John surgery. He came close to activation last September, only to be shut down due to some non-structural issues. Then, after waiting through another long winter, Spring Training yielded another setback. The three-time All-Star could tell he wasn’t at his sharpest because his fastball lacked its “jump.” He was diagnosed with nerve inflammation, received a cortisone injection, and was shut down from throwing.

“It plays up a little bit but it also just, it gets on guys and it’s a little bit different than your average, even if I’m (throwing) 92, 93, 94 mph, it plays up and it’s not your prototypical 92,” he said of the jump. “So that, even when I was 96 in spring, they were taking way too comfortable a swing on it, and that was one thing that was really hampering me. … That was one thing that really hampered me, was not having that little thump, that little jump to the end of the heater.”

Even as those 680 days dragged on and he missed his third consecutive Opening Day roster, Hendriks didn’t doubt that he’d get back. He grappled with other uncertainties. He admitted it was a “mental struggle” to figure out what was different with his fastball, especially because how he felt physically varied throughout the preseason, and that he “got very aggressive early” in camp trying to correct the situation.

“(I didn’t question) whether I’d be active,” he said. “Spring Training was a time I questioned my capabilities a little bit more, and that was just mainly because I was lying to myself with my arm, and trying to get through things and do things that (got) me to where I am now, which is pitching through things.”

“This time, it was not — instead of pitching through things and kind of flushing the system out, it just compounded the system,” he continued, “and trying to get that through my stubborn head is not the easiest thing to do.”

The last time Hendriks took the mound in a big-league game, he wore a White Sox uniform. When he takes the mound at Fenway this weekend, he’ll be facing them. Already known as a passionate and vocal presence on the mound, he said pitching against his former team elicits “extra energy levels.”

“I think there’s definitely going to be a little bit more in there, coming out with the last team I played with many moons and going back out there,” he said. “I think it’ll definitely hold that little extra-special moment and hopefully it gives me a little extra adrenaline going out there.”

The two-time Mariano Rivera Reliever of the Year and ‘21 AL saves leader isn’t a closer anymore, either. He was in competition for the job during spring training, but graciously ceded to Aroldis Chapman before the team made a decision.

“I have no clue, and that’s what I want,” Hendriks said about his role. “I’m just excited for that adrenalish rush from the phone call (to the bullpen). That’s the thing that I think I’ve missed most about being here.”

The waiting was frustrating, though not to such an extent that Hendriks was actually counting the days. He Googled it.

Regardless, 680 days is a long time to wait and watch.

“Feels like at least 1,000 (days),” he said. “It feels a hell of a lot longer than that, but yeah, it’s been a long and arduous journey to get here. But now I’m here and now I can actually perform and go out there and do what these guys are paying me to do.”

“Now,” Hendriks said, “I can get back to being me.”

‘He exudes baseball’

Even though it was a rare trade with the New York Yankees, the Red Sox’s December acquisition of rookie catcher Carlos Narváez from their eternal rivals flew somewhat under the radar.

For starters, it happened the same day the Red Sox acquired star left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox, in a trade that sent their top catching prospect, Kyle Teel, to Chicago.

Then, Narváez came into his first Red Sox camp and competed with several other catchers for the backup job, which he won.

Now, with longtime catcher Connor Wong out since April 7 due to a hand fracture, Narváez has stepped into the everyday role, and impressed his coaches in the process.

“Carlos is what we envisioned,” longtime Red Sox catcher and current coach Jason Varitek told the Herald. “An elite defender, an elite receiver.”

“In a nutshell, Carlos is a baseball player,” added Varitek, “and it’s a compliment (to him) and a compliment for this industry and Red Sox Nation. He’s a baseball player and he exudes baseball.”

“He’s an elite framer,” concurred pitching coach Andrew Bailey. “He works really well with our guys.”

Narváez ran the gauntlet in spring training, as the Red Sox tried to make sure he only caught as many of the pitchers as possible.

“The good part is he was here all spring,” said Varitek. “We try and match (catchers) up to where they get through everybody, but there were some (pitchers) he didn’t quite get to. I don’t think he had Crochet as a start until his last one, he hadn’t had (Richard) Fitts until his last one. It’s the mix-match game in spring training trying to make sure they get to everybody.”

All while fighting for a place on the team.

“Coming into spring training and having 40-some odd pitchers, and then having the stress of trying to focus on making the roster and focusing on games,” said Bailey. “It’s a lot.”

That’s what most impresses the coaches: not only the mountains Narváez is climbing, but the energy he brings to the endeavor. Asked which pitcher he most enjoys catching, for example, Narváez couldn’t choose.

“Everyone,” he said earnestly. “I love every guy.”

“He’s been a treat to work with,” Bailey said. “Very vocal, very studied, prepared, and continued to work to be on the same page and leverage these guys’ best offerings as best as we can.”

“When he smiles, his demeanor, and the way he goes about his business,” Varitek said. “And he’s prepared. He’s a joy to be around.”

Few players have a bigger place in the history of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry than Varitek. It’s already come up in their conversations, and the captain assumes they’ll dig a little deeper in June, when Narváez gets his first turn.

“When they come, I’m sure we’ll get into more, but we’re in the moment right now as much as we can, and he’s been a great part of that,” Varitek said.

When the rivals meet, Varitek thinks Narváez will be fueled by something special.

“You’re flipping sides and you’re flipping emotions. I’m sure he felt a different way early on in his career (before) now,” Varitek said. “We traded for him, we wanted him, so he can always have that in his pocket that he’s a Red Sox, because we wanted him.”