Henderson happy to be back with Orioles after rehabbing rib cage muscle

KANSAS CITY – Gunnar Henderson wore a hooded sweatshirt and wool stocking cap as he charged ground balls at shortstop during today’s infield drills. The weather at Kauffman Stadium is cold and damp, but he managed to work up a sweat.

Henderson wiped his hair with a towel and pulled the cap onto his head again. The conditions are miserable, but he couldn’t have been happier. He’s playing for the Orioles again, ready to make his 2025 debut after recovering from a strained right intercostal. He didn’t need the sun to shine.

The Orioles reinstated Henderson from the injured list earlier today and optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson. Henderson is batting leadoff to start a three-game series against the Royals.

“It sucks having to watch your team play on TV. I’ll tell you that much,” said Henderson, who returned from a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk.

“Obviously, was very disappointed that I wasn’t well enough for the Opening Day roster, but I was able to get my work in and I’m ready to go now.”

“It was exciting to see him today,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “I talked to him a few days ago, he felt really good. Had a nice little day off yesterday, a planned off-day following his rehab. He feels good physically. He feels ready to go, and we’re excited to put him in there tonight.”

The falling temperatures wouldn’t be a deterrent. Henderson is here to play.

“He had an off-day yesterday, so that was kind of the mindset of the organization to give him a little bit of a break before he starts,” Hyde said. “I’m hoping it’s not too wet and cold, but we’ll see how it goes. It sounds like there’s going to be some drizzle, but Gunn doesn’t care. Gunn will play in anything right now.”

Henderson strained his rib cage muscle on Feb. 27 and never got into an exhibition game. He tried, of course, but taking batting practice and fielding grounders didn’t replicate what he needed to do in order to get ready. Time ran out, which Henderson realized as the Orioles drew closer to breaking camp.

“Probably a week up to it because we didn’t know when my side was going to allow me to get the amount of at-bats I needed without kind of overdoing it,” he said. “I’d rather play it safe than sorry at that point than try to rush back and do it again.”

Henderson was stuck with television broadcasts to feel closer to the team. He appeared in 150 and 159 games the past two seasons. The separation from his friends was unsettling.

“It was definitely different,” he said. “My first time I’ve had to do that. It’s definitely not as fun watching it rather than playing in it. Glad to be back.”

Henderson is 13-for-42 (.310) with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBIs and five walks in 12 career games against Kansas City. He isn’t easing back into major league competition. The Royals are starting Cy Young Award runner-up Seth Lugo.

“It’s definitely tough,” he said. “Just got to pick your strong suits and kind of determine what you do well and try to eliminate what he does well. Just take your picks there.”

The lineup looks much deeper with Henderson in it.

Cedric Mullins is starting in the cleanup spot for only the second time in his career. He also did it on July 7, 2023 in Minnesota. And he’s doing damage anywhere he bats, going 8-for-26 (.308) with a double, three home runs and a team-leading 11 RBIs.

“I love the way Cedric’s playing right now in every facet, the at-bats he’s giving,” Hyde said. “I like having him … when he’s running and running really well, it’s nice to have him up as much as possible because he puts so much pressure on the defense, and he’s shown that so far. He’s gotten good jumps, he’s run, he’s hit for power. The way he’s swinging the bat right now, it’s hard to move him down the order.”

Ryan Mountcastle is lowered to eighth for the only time in his career. He’s never started a game below seventh.

“Yeah, we’re dynamic one through nine, so anybody can do it on any given day and that’s our MO is just put up a lot of runs in many different ways,” Henderson said.

Ramón Urías is 9-for-21 and he’s a reserve tonight with Jackson Holliday playing second base and Jordan Westburg at third.

“We should be tough outs all the way down the order,” Hyde said. “We should present some problems for opposing starting pitchers as well as guys coming out of the bullpen. You know, we have Ramón Urías, he’s off to one of the best starts of our team right now coming off the bench. I feel like we haven’t clicked offensively yet. We had a couple really nice games offensively, but this team could be a really good offense.”

The Orioles are seeking consistency after going 3-4 against the Blue Jays and Red Sox. The bats are hot and cold, and Zach Eflin is the only starter to complete six innings, doing it in both appearances. The rotation ERA is 6.35 and would be 7.77 without him.

“We had our ups and downs the first two series,” Hyde said. “It’s nice to have Gunnar back. We’re going to find our identity kind of as the season goes along. I think the bullpen’s throwing the ball pretty well for the most part. We’ve had our moments offensively. We could be a little bit better off the mound than we have been. But it’s still really, really early, and there’s a lot of good baseball left.”

Said Henderson: “It’s kinda cool going through those early stages and seeing how everything works out.”

* Hyde said Tomoyuki Sugano won’t have any restrictions in Saturday afternoon’s start after lasting only four innings due to cramping in both hands.

“Just hoping he doesn’t have that hand cramp and he stays out there as long as he can,” Hyde said.