BALTIMORE — The Orioles didn’t activate Gunnar Henderson from the injured list for Thursday’s finale against Boston, but the star shortstop’s return is “probable” for the start of the road trip in Kansas City.
On the heels of Henderson playing back-to-back games for Triple-A Norfolk at Charlotte, Thursday was a planned off-day for the 2024 All-Star selection with manager Brandon Hyde saying Henderson would rejoin the team on the road and likely be in the lineup against the Royals on Friday. Thursday was the first day Henderson was eligible to be activated after being placed on the 10-day IL with a right intercostal strain suffered in late February. The Orioles were able to backdate Henderson’s stint the maximum three days before their season opener.
“I think everybody’s looking forward to having Gunnar back on the team,” Hyde said. “The rehab went really, really well. I talked to him a couple days ago, and he feels great swinging the bat. His timing came, especially the last few days. He just had to get out there and get some reps defensively and get some games in. It all went well.”
In five games with the Tides, Henderson went 5-for-19 with two home runs, four RBIs, a walk, and four strikeouts. In Henderson’s absence, the Orioles have used Jackson Holliday and Jorge Mateo at shortstop with Holliday making his fourth start of the season there Thursday afternoon.
The Orioles are hoping the great caution they used with Henderson’s rib-cage injury over the last month will lead to him returning to an everyday role without any limitations or setbacks, but Hyde said he’ll be monitoring him closely for the time being. Henderson, 23, played in a team-high 159 games last season and 150 contests in 2023.
“I’m just going to be talking with him every single day and with the training staff,” Hyde said. “I love to give guys days off when we can for this marathon season we’re in. We’ll see. Stuff like that always plays a part in all that.”
With Henderson being unavailable to hit in the leadoff spot to begin the season after doing so 119 times in 2024, Hyde had been using Colton Cowser atop the order before the outfielder fractured his left thumb on a head-first slide in Toronto on Sunday. Infielder Jordan Westburg led off each of the first two games of the Red Sox series, but center fielder Cedric Mullins was manning the top spot in the order for Thursday’s finale, which was the first time he’d done that since Sept. 29, 2023.
