Leftovers for breakfast

Gunnar Henderson got hot again at the plate.

His .234/.303/.405 August was followed by nine hits in 19 at-bats prior to yesterday, with a double, three home runs, seven RBIs and four walks. The tater total is two shy of last month’s output in 28 games and one more than he hit in 24 games in July. And he was robbed of a three-run shot yesterday on Jose Siri’s leaping catch at the center field fence, keeping him at 36, a franchise record for shortstops.

The fielding fluctuates from fabulous to frustrating.

Henderson made two more errors Friday night to raise his team-leading total to 23. His fielding percentage was .959 before yesterday.

The first miscue originally was scored a hit for Jonathan Aranda with two outs in the eighth inning. Henderson ranged to his right and didn’t appear to get his glove turned in the proper position before the ball deflected off it. Aranda later was awarded a single.

The Rays put two runners on base against Seranthony Domínguez in the ninth after a single and Henderson’s error, which occurred when he couldn’t get the ball out of his glove on the first attempt. He had a force play at second, but the pause forced a late throw to first. Domínguez escaped the jam after a double steal in a 2-0 victory.

Henderson still makes the jaw-dropping highlight plays, ranging into the outfield grass for backhand stops and throws across his body and running down popups in shallow left field – sometimes near the line. He isn’t guilty of being tentative, which is a good sign.

“The one thing about Gunnar is the majority of the mistakes he makes are on the too-aggressive side,” manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday. “Normally with infielders, you want them to come get the ball, be more aggressive, and Gunnar’s a little bit too aggressive at times. Instead of playing in an easy fashion at shortstop with angles, he plays sometimes a little too quick. He’s better when he backs off and plays the game a little easier.

“I think that’s maybe a 22, 23-year-old playing and he’s gonna learn that over time, and he kind of knows that. Even though he’s got the errors, he’s made a lot of really good plays for us. Played well this year.”

Henderson bounced between short and third base last year but was told over the winter that he’d stay at short this season. He’ll become more consistent with major league experience.

“That’s just gonna come with time and games and hundreds and thousands of ground balls,” Hyde said. “Remember it’s his first full year playing short here at this level. You watch him take ground balls during pregame, he does it really easy. Some of the mistakes he’s made defensively this year have been just coming too hard to the baseball or trying to do too much instead of playing it with understanding angles a little bit more and the speed of the ball.”

Cal Ripken Jr. committed 24 errors at shortstop in 1983 and 26 in each of the next two seasons. And he also played a lot of games, as I recall.

* The Orioles are delaying their plans for reliever Jacob Webb, who’s made two injury rehab appearances and has returned to Camden Yards. He hasn’t pitched since Wednesday at Double-A Bowie.

The first outing was encouraging – a scoreless inning on nine pitches at Triple-A Norfolk. He threw 21 in one-third of an inning with the Baysox, allowed two runs before exiting and was charged with two more.

Webb went on the injured list with right elbow inflammation that subsided, leading to his clearance to play catch, throw bullpen sessions and begin his rehab assignment. The Orioles aren’t rushing him or anyone else, no matter how important they are to the roster.

Perhaps we’ll get an update today, whether he’s pitching again in the minors, rejoining the bullpen or facing another shutdown.

* Félix Bautista threw in the bullpen again yesterday in front of pitching coaches and athletic training staff. He’s unleashing fastballs. There’s nothing soft about his sessions.

Bautista underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow in October, getting a head start on everyone else. He’s obviously made an impressive recovery but isn’t in the 2024 plans, as executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias stated on Aug. 10 in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field.

“We’re ruling out October,” Elias said. “We’re just going to steer things for next spring training and make sure we get everything right to get him ready for 2025.”

Seems like a safe bet that Bautista will be ready for the opener in Toronto barring an unexpected setback.

These bullpen sessions must make it at least a little tempting to revisit that timeline, but the Orioles don’t appear to be shifting their focus away from next spring.

* Nick Maton started at third base Friday night and Emmanuel Rivera replaced him in the seventh inning. Rivera got the start yesterday.

I wondered whether Rivera was a defensive replacement in the series opener or if something happened to cause the switch.

“Manny’s just a little more experienced at third base at this level and a good third baseman,” Hyde said. “Not that Nick’s not. Nick just hasn’t had the same amount of reps and hasn’t played over there as much And we were pretty left-handed heavy at that point and figured they might just go with a lefty anyway, even though they didn’t get to him at that spot. But I feel comfortable with Manny playing third or first.”

Rivera made a sweet play yesterday in the first inning, ranging to his left to glove Junior Caminero’s sharp grounder and throwing him out.

* Austin Slater is 1-for-11 as a pinch-hitter, but he can get on base.

Slater came off the bench yesterday with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and drew his eighth walk, a total that led the majors.

* Here’s a nugget from STATS that puts a couple of Orioles in rare company.

Adley Rutschman recorded his 200^th total base Tuesday, joining Anthony Santander in reaching the mark in consecutive years. They’re on a short list of American League switch-hitting duos under 30 to go back-to-back.

Roberto Alomar and Devon White, 1991-92 Blue Jays
Coco Crisp and Victor Martínez, 2004-05 Indians
Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana, 2011-13 Indians
Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez, 2016-19 Indians
Rutschman and Santander, 2023-24 Orioles

* Brandon Young started for Norfolk last night and allowed four runs and 10 hits with only three strikeouts in five innings against Charlotte.

Samuel Basallo hit his second Triple-A home run, against former Orioles reliever Travis Lakins Sr., and the ball traveled 455 feet at 109.6 mph off the bat. That's the longest Tides home run this season.

Basallo is 20 years old.

Terrin Vavra, back in the organization on a minor league deal, started at second base and went 2-for-5. He struck out three times.

Heston Kjerstad played in his first rehab game with High-A Aberdeen. He served as designated hitter and went 0-for-3 before leaving for a pinch-hitter.