Orioles star Gunnar Henderson offered a optimistic replace on the standing of his intercostal pressure yesterday, telling reporters (together with Roch Kubatko of MASN) that he’s “feeling good” as he works his means again to the sphere in hopes of being prepared for Opening Day. Henderson first suffered the damage in late February, and after practically three weeks of rehab the shortstop expressed some optimism about his state of affairs.
“It’s getting there,” Henderson stated, as relayed by Kubatko. “It’s so much higher than what it initially felt like.”
He went on so as to add that his “plan” is to be energetic and within the lineup for Opening Day in opposition to the Blue Jays on March 27, and hopefully get into some Spring Coaching video games earlier than then as effectively. Whereas he wasn’t in both lineup for at present’s set to separate squad Grapefruit League video games, Opening Day continues to be virtually two weeks away which ought to supply the Orioles a little bit of time to work with as they appear to get Henderson up to the mark in time for the beginning of the common season.
Dropping the shortstop for any period of time can be devastating provided that he was one of many high gamers in your complete sport final yr. After impressing in a 32-game cup of espresso throughout the 2022 season, Henderson received the AL Rookie of the Yr award in 2023 earlier than making his first All-Star sport final yr and ending fourth in a stacked AL MVP class behind Aaron Choose, Bobby Witt Jr. and Juan Soto. If Henderson had been to overlook time, the membership may slide Jackson Holliday over to shortstop from second base, with a possible bench participant like Livan Soto dealing with second or maybe Jordan Westburg transferring to the keystone to make room for Coby Mayo on the sizzling nook. In fact, for now the Orioles appear to be targeted on getting ready Henderson for the beginning of the season moderately than potential options.
Whereas Henderson seemingly stays on monitor to interrupt camp with the membership, the identical can’t be stated for utility man Jorge Mateo. As famous by Kubatko, supervisor Brandon Hyde advised reporters Friday that it’s “very uncertain” Mateo will likely be prepared for Opening Day. The versatile hitter has spent the spring recovering from elbow surgical procedure, and just lately expressed optimism that he’d have the ability to make it again in time for Opening Day. That optimism isn’t fully unfounded, as Mateo is making his spring debut at present. With that being stated, the ultimate determination of Mateo’s readiness will come all the way down to Hyde and GM Mike Elias, each of whom have now expressed doubt about Mateo’s odds of breaking camp with the membership.
Again to extra promising damage information, infielder Ramon Urias has been slowed in latest days by a sore hamstring however is just not anticipated to overlook vital time because of the challenge. Kubatko writes that the 30-year-old went by a full slate of defensive work and took batting follow yesterday, whereas MLB.com’s Jake Rill notes that Urias advised reporters this morning that his hamstring is feeling higher and that there’s “no concern” about his skill to be prepared for Opening Day. Urias is in neither lineup for at present’s break up squad video games, however each he and Hyde expressed optimism that he can be again within the lineup for Baltimore in comparatively brief order.
