Henderson uncertain for Opening Day with intercostal strain

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The expected 26-man roster for the Orioles on Opening Day is in jeopardy.

Manager Brandon Hyde began today’s post-game media session with negative news regarding shortstop Gunnar Henderson and reliever Andrew Kittredge.

Henderson is bothered by a “very mild” intercostal strain on his right side. The injury occurred in the first inning of Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium. Henderson exited with discomfort in his right side after making a leaping catch of Bo Bichette’s line drive and grounding out in his only at-bat.

“He’s feeling a lot better, but we’re just obviously going to slow play it a little bit and make sure that he’s 100 percent. But he’s getting a lot better every single day,” Hyde said following a 5-2 win over the Twins.

The intercostal is a muscle that runs between the ribs in the chest wall and assists in expanding and contracting the chest during breathing.

Former pitcher Brian Matusz suffered a similar injury in 2011 in the season’s first series, was scratched from his start and placed on the injured list. Zack Britton was recalled and made his major league debut.

The regular season begins March 27 in Toronto and the Orioles don’t know whether Henderson will be on the active roster.

“I’m very, very hopeful, but we’re not gonna push a strain there,” Hyde said. “We want to make sure that it gets taken care of before. It’s one of those sensitive areas where we don’t want anything to reoccur.”

Infielder Livan Soto had three more hits today and is 7-for-15 (.467) with a 1.156 OPS. He would be headed to Triple-A Norfolk unless an injury or trade unfolded. The probable six infielders on Opening Day were Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Urías.

Soto is a non-roster invite to camp after the Orioles outrighted him on Jan. 17. He was designated for assignment a week earlier when they claimed pitcher Roansy Contreras.

The Orioles acquired Soto and outfielder Austin Slater from the Reds for cash considerations at the trade deadline. Soto was optioned, came back and went 3-for-10.

“Livan Soto is a really good baseball player,” Hyde said. “He’s young. He plays really good middle infield defense. Give you a really good at-bat. He did it when he was in the big leagues with us last year. I was impressed with the at-bats that he gave us in the brief time that he was with us. When he got a chance to play, I thought the at-bats he gave us were really competitive and he plays really good defense.

“I like the way he plays. He’s just a really sound player.”

Westburg could slide over to shortstop if Henderson goes on the injured list, creating a spot at third base for Coby Mayo or Emmanuel Rivera, who homered again today. Mayo is on the 40-man roster but he’s 1-for-20, lining out twice to left field today.

The injury to Henderson is flukish in nature. He didn’t hit the ground and appeared to be fine.

“It’s just like the whole act of what he did,” Hyde said. “It’s more probably how he landed and just kind of crunched his side a little bit.”

Henderson, who placed fourth in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League, has appeared in three games and gone 1-for-6. He’s never gone on the IL, and he played in 159 games last season.

“It’s kind of a day-to-day thing,” Hyde said. “He is improving. I saw him before I left. He’s feeling better. It’s how much better on a daily basis. But we’re not gonna push him out there unless we know that this is cleared up.”

Meanwhile, Kittredge is shut down with inflammation in his left knee. He underwent an MRI and the Orioles will get “multiple opinions,” according to Hyde.

The door is opening for Bryan Baker, who has retired all nine batters faced, including three today. His fastball topped out at 98.2 mph.

“This is back, for me, ’22,” Hyde said. “The fastball looks like ’22 to me, and then the changeup’s different. It’s harder than it probably was in ’22 and way harder than it was the last couple years. I love the adjustment that he made with it. In ’22, that was a high-90s fastball with this really slow change that really kept the guys off balance. This is an even better changeup that the arm speed is really good on it. And you know he’s got a lot more confidence in his slider than he did a few years ago. So love the way he’s throwing the ball.”

Grayson Rodriguez allowed one run and three hits in 1 1/3 innings. His velocity was down again and he said afterward that he felt sluggish. He was out of the game before Hyde got to the ballpark, the arrival delayed by an accident that closed down I-75.

“I heard he wasn’t feeling his best and I think those kinds of things happen in spring training,” Hyde said. “We’ve been here for a few weeks now and sometimes you’ve got maybe a little fatigue going in. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Hyde also said that Westburg, who’s doing full baseball activities after experiencing lower-back spasms, could be in Thursday night’s lineup.

“I’m gonna check with him tomorrow,” Hyde said, “but that’s possible.”

Heston Kjerstad singled up the middle to score Soto in the seventh inning. Kjerstad is 5-for-20 after a slow start.

Keegan Akin had a walk and strikeout in a scoreless seventh.

Vimael Machín batted for the first time in the eighth inning and singled to make him 8-for-15 this spring. He’s also got to be under consideration if a roster move is forthcoming.