Updating Henderson and Rodriguez, Mayo and Vázquez leave game after being hit by pitches (O's win 12-3)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson hit on the field earlier today in Sarasota, went through more defensive drills and is progressing well, according to manager Brandon Hyde. However, Hyde added that Henderson remains “a little bit away from game activity.”

That isn’t good.

Time is running out on Henderson with the last exhibition next Monday in D.C. The Orioles break camp the previous day after playing the Braves in North Port.

The Orioles traveled to Fort Myers today to face the Red Sox. Livan Soto hit leadoff and started at shortstop.

Henderson isn’t expected to make the Opening Day roster if he can’t get back into the spring lineup.

"It’s gonna be really tough,” Hyde said. “You’ve got to get some at-bats. Hopefully we can get him in games sometime soon. But he needs to get at-bats and feel good before we make that decision."

Henderson was 1-for-6 when he exited the Feb. 27 game against the Blue Jays after one inning. The injury occurred after he raced to his right and made a leaping catch of Bo Bichette’s line drive.

* Grayson Rodriguez is scheduled to play catch on the field Tuesday morning to begin his throwing progression.

Rodriguez hasn’t pitched since March 5 against the Twins in Fort Myers. He received a cortisone injection behind his right elbow and went through a shutdown period.

The Orioles will put Rodriguez on the injured list to start the season. He must undergo another version of spring training.

* Coby Mayo exited today’s game in an eight-run sixth inning after being hit on the right hand/wrist by a 96 mph sinker from Jose Adames.

Mayo dropped the bat and crouched in pain. Hyde and athletic trainer Mark Shires came onto the field, and Mayo jogged to the clubhouse after the inning.

The Orioles sent 13 batters to the plate to erase a 3-2 deficit. Mayo singled earlier in the inning and is 8-for-42 after a 1-for-23 start. He also made a leaping catch at third base to rob Trevor Story.

The Orioles went station-to-station in the sixth inning against Greg Weissert, with the first eight batters reaching base

Gary Sánchez drew a leadoff walk, followed by singles from Mayo, Daz Cameron, Vimael Machín and Luis Vázquez – the last two for RBIs. Another run scored on a wild pitch and Dylan Beavers walked to reload the bases.

Machín is having a scorching spring with 16 hits in 37 at-bats.

Adames entered and Enrique Bradfield Jr. walked to force in a run. Soto doubled to score two more runs. Still nobody out.

A popup and fly ball calmed the storm, but Mayo was hit and Cameron produced a two-run single for a 10-3 lead.

Luis Guerrero came into the game in the seventh and drilled Vázquez on the right elbow. Vázquez laid on the ground and eventually was removed. Tough day for a team that's already short on infielders with Ramón Urías and Emmanuel Rivera day to day.

Guerrero hit Bradfield on the leg in the same inning, but the outfield prospect stayed in the game.

* Charlie Morton starts Tuesday night against the Blue Jays in Sarasota, which leads into the second off-day.

Meanwhile, Dean Kremer’s last appearance in a Grapefruit League game was Wednesday against the Braves. Like other starters, he’s building up innings on the back fields.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff going on back there,” Hyde said. “A lot of our main guys stayed back to take at-bats back there.”

Hyde wasn’t ready this morning to announce his No. 2 starter after Zach Eflin. Doesn’t hurt to try.

The competition for the fifth spot remains heated after Albert Suárez allowed one run yesterday in five innings in Lakeland.

“Suárez threw the ball really well,” Hyde said. “Got to see a little bit of it. A lot of off-speed stuff for strikes. Detroit’s a good fastball-hitting team and he threw a lot of off-speed stuff going in and had a lot of success. They had their main guys out there and he threw the ball really well.”

* Zach Fruit made his second appearance with the Orioles after coming over from the minor league side. Facing the Red Sox’s A lineup, he allowed one earned run (two total) and two hits with four strikeouts over three innings.

Fruit hit his first batter, Alex Bregman, Triston Casas reached on Soto’s error and Story followed with a sacrifice fly. He got back-to-back strikeouts against Wilyer Abreu and Connor Wong.

Kristan Campbell struck out leading off the fourth, but Cedanne Rafaela singled, Jarren Duran walked and Bregman’s sacrifice fly gave Boston a 3-2 lead. Fruit returned for the fifth and retired the side in order.

Fruit tossed three scoreless innings against the Yankees and struck out five batters, and his fastball topped out at 100.3 mph. He already was gaining notice last year at High-A Aberdeen by posting a 3.03 ERA in 25 games (21 starts) and striking out 113 in 107 innings. Baseball America ranks him 30^th among the system’s prospects.

The IronBirds had a combined no-hitter on July 20. Fruit started the game and went 4 2/3 innings.

Fruit is enjoying his opportunities on the major league side.

“It’s been really fun," he said. "It’s definitely part of the development phase. I think the biggest thing for me is just going out there and showing I can compete with these big league hitters and just get guys out at this level. But overall just for the confidence, it’s been really good for me. Just going back out there and making sure I can show the Orioles what I can do.”

Hyde has stated how much he’s impressed with Fruit and looked forward to watching him pitch today.

“I guess I really haven’t heard that, but yeah, for a confidence thing that’s huge for us guys down at the lower levels,” he said. “But just trying to get out there and show the staff that there’s good talent at the lower-end levels and what they’re going at this pitching department right now, it’s gonna show soon.”

The pitch mix is fastball-heavy, including a new cutter that he used to get outs today. He didn't throw one until spring training. The slider existed in college, but it's gotten better since the draft. The changeup is new.

"My arsenal is still in develop," he said. "I think that's what good for me, knowing what I do good and sticking to those strengths. But adding these pitches I think is the reason for a lot of the success that's coming along."

* The Blue Jays announced that right-hander José Berríos will be the Opening Day starter against the Orioles.

Berríos has allowed four runs and 14 hits this spring in 15 1/3 innings, with four walks and 13 strikeouts. He’s 10-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.080 WHIP in 16 career starts against the Orioles.

Adley Rutschman is 13-for-22 (.591) against Berríos, with two doubles, three home runs, a .625 on-base percentage and a 1.091 slugging. Ryan O’Hearn is 10-for-31 (.323) with two doubles, two home runs, a .400 on-base percentage and a .581 slugging.

Ryan Mountcastle is 2-for-22 and both hits are home runs.

* Roansy Contreras made his first spring start today and allowed one run and three hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. He threw 52 pitches, 32 for strikes. “I like his stuff,” Hyde said earlier. “He throws hard, he throws strikes, he’s got a good breaking ball.” … The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the second inning after Cameron reached on a Story error and Machín, Vázquez and Beavers strung together singles. ... Blake Money, a 12th-round pick in 2023 out of LSU, retired the side in order in the sixth and tossed three scoreless innings with one hit.

* The Orioles won 12-3 and appeared to escape without serious injuries.

"Everybody that came out of the game that got hit, they're OK," Hyde said. "We took them out as a precaution, soft tissue stuff. It's really gonna be sore tonight and we'll re-evaluate tomorrow, but it should be fine, all those guys.

"You don't ever wanna see anybody get hit. Hands, you feel like it's a tough spot, but fortunately Coby felt fine later on."

Asked about Fruit, Hyde said, "It's fun to see a young guy have command of multiple pitches. That gets lost in our game right now big time."