Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson has been identified with a light proper intercostal pressure. Supervisor Brandon Hyde relayed the data to reporters at the moment, together with Jake Rill of MLB.com. Hyde says the membership remains to be “very, very hopeful” of Henderson being on the Opening Day roster, which is now simply over three weeks away.
Henderson was faraway from a Grapefruit League recreation in opposition to the Blue Jays final week, with the O’s asserting that he had decrease proper aspect discomfort. After that contest, Hyde downplayed the priority, framing the removing as precautionary and saying that Henderson wouldn’t even require an MRI.
Every week later, it appears the difficulty has lingered sufficient that his readiness for Opening Day is a query mark. Although Hyde nonetheless thinks Henderson might be prepared by the opener, he additionally suggests they received’t be aggressive with him only for that one recreation. “I’m very, very hopeful,” Hyde stated at the moment, per Rill. “However we’re going to not push a pressure there, and we need to guarantee that he will get it taken care of. It’s a kind of delicate areas the place we don’t need something to reoccur.”
Whether or not Henderson is within the lineup on Opening Day or not, it’s a state of affairs value monitoring, given his significance to the crew. Henderson received American League Rookie of the Yr honors in 2023 and vaulted to a brand new degree final 12 months. He hit 37 dwelling runs, stole 21 bases, slashed .281/.364/.529 and obtained robust grades for his shortstop protection. FanGraphs credited him with 8.0 wins above alternative on the 12 months. That may have been adequate for an MVP award in a few years however Henderson completed fourth within the voting, because of outrageous seasons from Aaron Decide, Bobby Witt Jr. and Juan Soto.
The O’s will possible have to contemplate some contingency plans, even when they in the end anticipate Henderson to get wholesome within the subsequent three weeks. Jorge Mateo performed quite a lot of shortstop earlier than Henderson took over that spot however he’s presently recovering from elbow surgical procedure and prone to begin the season on the injured listing. Jackson Holliday has shortstop expertise however the membership has largely moved him to second base.
Jordan Westburg has loads of shortstop expertise within the minors however simply ten large league innings there. He has his personal well being state of affairs since he’s been coping with again soreness/spasms this spring. He hasn’t performed shortly however Hyde stated to Rill it’s doable he might play in Thursday’s recreation, relying on how he feels within the morning. If Westburg had been to cowl brief, it might create a gap a 3rd, which might be crammed by Coby Mayo or Ramón Urías. The O’s even have a number of infielders in camp as non-roster invitees, corresponding to Terrin Vavra, Liván Soto, Luis Vázquez, Emmanuel Rivera and Vimael Machín.
There are numerous transferring elements and the state of affairs will certainly change within the coming weeks earlier than Opening Day. Ideally, Henderson will simply be again in motion and all the pieces can be again in its correct place, although Baltimore followers will possible be maintaining a eager eye on developments between at times.
Elsewhere on the roster, reliever Andrew Kittredge has some left knee soreness. Hyde tells reporters, together with Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner, that he’s undergone an MRI and can search a number of opinions. The O’s signed Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM deal in January to bolster their bullpen. He posted a 2.48 earned run common over the 2021 to 2024 seasons. Tommy John surgical procedure worn out a lot of the center two seasons of that span however he tossed 70 2/3 innings final 12 months with a 2.80 ERA, 23.3% strikeout charge, 7% stroll charge and 45.2% floor ball charge.
