Henderson and Hyde talk about Westburg's promotion (plus injury notes)

Gunnar Henderson sat slumped in a chair in front of his locker today, staring at his phone with a slight grin on his face. In his own little world, while media surrounded Jordan Westburg on the other side of the clubhouse.

Henderson had his scrum on Aug. 31 in Cleveland. Westburg received the home treatment this afternoon before making his major league debut.

“It feels like forever ago, but also it doesn’t feel like I remember too much leading up until the game,” said Henderson, who was baseball’s No. 1 prospect.

“I remember the night before I got like 45 minutes of sleep. It was a little bit different, but I’m sure he got a good night’s sleep. But it doesn’t seem like too long ago.”

Westburg is starting at second base against Reds left-hander Brandon Williamson. Henderson is on the bench, though left-handed hitters are 9-for-28 (.321) against Williamson.

Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías are occupying the left side of the infield, but Henderson will have plenty of opportunities to be paired with Westburg.

“We’ve done that all through the minor league levels, low A all the way up to Triple-A,” Henderson said. “It will be really fun to be able to share the infield with him here in the big leagues.”

Henderson hadn’t spoken to Westburg, knowing that the first few hours can make a new arrival’s head spin.

“I feel like he’s been going every which way,” Henderson said. “I’m sure it’s been a whirlwind for him, but when we get out to BP, he’ll get a chance to take a breath and we can talk a little bit.”

Westburg was trying to get his bearings together as the media formed arcs three layers deep at this locker. The No. 34 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, and No. 3 in the system, drew a heavy crowd for a Monday afternoon.

“Feeling a lot right now,” Westburg said. “Don’t really know what emotions I’m feeling. Lot of excitement, but yeah, it’s been a whirlwind of a day. I’m excited to be here and get it going.”

Rather than solicit advice from teammates, Westburg just wanted to make certain that he didn’t get lost or arrive late to a meeting or batting practice.

“Just kind of soak it all in, enjoy the moment, don’t be too nervous,” he said. “Just kind of the cliché things.”

The Orioles waited until Westburg played 158 games at Triple-A, including 67 this year, before promoting him. After he was chosen as the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2022 and turned lots of heads in spring training.

“I thought he had a really good camp, and he’s off to a great start in the first half in Triple-A. We’re excited about that and what he’s done offensively and defensively, and the ability to play multiple spots in the infield. He’s going to be a huge plus for us,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

“Also, just the power. He’s got (18) homers in Norfolk, and the ability to drive the baseball to all fields, and he did that so far in Norfolk, and we’re excited to watch him make his debut tonight.”

The Orioles decided that Westburg was ready to impact the team. He’s here to play, and to assist in the playoff push.

“I think it’s going to be not set in stone every night,” Hyde said. “I think the great part about it is, we’re getting into the part of summer where guys need a break, and with the amount of talent that we have on our roster, I think that’s going to be fantastic to be able to move guys around a little bit, get guys off their feet once in a while. We’ve got (Austin) Hays DHing tonight. That’s going to happen.

“We have a long stretch in July, a long stretch in August, so to be able to have as much depth as we can, it’s going to be fortunate, so I’ll just be continuing to kind of mix and match and rest guys when I feel like they need to.”

The move wasn’t made to get Westburg acclimated to the majors and to take his lumps. He’s got to contribute.

“We’re going to bring guys up here if we feel like they can help us win,” Hyde said. “If we feel like Jordan can help us win and impact our team positively, it’s not a development situation. We’re trying to win games.

“Where we are roster-wise, we talk about our roster all the time, we know what’s going on in Triple-A. We feel like Jordan can impact our club in a positive way, we’re going to bring him up.”

Westburg mostly will play second and third, but he also can move to shortstop.

“You never rule that out,” Hyde said.

“It’s a day-to-day, night-to-night basis who I feel like needs a night off, who I feel is a better matchup against a certain starting pitcher. Just make the decision the day before. I try to do a series-before lineup, where best-case scenario, everybody’s healthy, this is what I’m seeing the next three or four days. But those things change a lot, too. You guys don’t see a lot of stuff that happens, but some guys come in and maybe need a day, and so kind of an outline and then go from there.”

Westburg is the latest high-level draft pick and prospect to crash the scene. Others will follow, including outfielder Colton Cowser, who jumped from 31^st to 15^th last night in Pipeline’s latest rankings. Outfielder Heston Kjerstad moved up from 53^rd to 40^th.

“You look at what our prospects are doing, our offensive prospects especially with the numbers they’re putting up in Double-A and Triple-A, and Jackson (Holliday) in High-A at 19, it’s extremely exciting for us,” Hyde said. “Not only up here, but the organization going forward. … It’s a credit to a lot of people and shows you how healthy we were, especially at the plate and from a hitting standpoint. We have a lot of fun guys to watch right now, and more guys making their debuts here in the next couple years.”

* The following injury updates were available today:

Reliever Dillon Tate is joining Mychal Givens in Baltimore to undergo further evaluation and testing. They left their injury rehab assignments with Norfolk.

The Orioles are hopeful that Givens can play catch later this week and next week before rejoining the Tides.

John Means played catch on the field today for the first time since being shut down in late May with a strain in his left teres major, a muscle in the scapula/upper back region. He sustained the injury while participating in non-throwing activation drills during his rehab program from Tommy John surgery.

Austin Voth played catch today for the first time since going on the injured list with right elbow discomfort.

Backup catcher James McCann did some running outside after hitting in the cage yesterday. He’s on the IL with a sprained left ankle.

“He’s starting his baseball activities,” Hyde said.

For the Reds
Kevin Newman 1B
Matt McLain SS
Jonathan India 2B
Elly De La Cruz 3B
Spencer Steer LF
Nick Senzel RF
Tyler Stephenson DH
TJ Friedl CF
Curt Casali C

Brandon Williamson LHP