Quick Orioles pregame hits on injuries and pitching (Wong signed to minor league contract)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson took batting practice again this morning in Sarasota and remains on track to make his 2024 spring debut in the near future.

Henderson was held back in workouts and games due to soreness in his left oblique. He made it through yesterday’s batting practice without incident.

“He did a lot of defense yesterday, also, and everything’s going great,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It’s just a matter of getting him a little bit more on-the-field stuff, and you should see him pretty soon.”

Second baseman Connor Norby said the soreness in his left side is gone and he’s increasing baseball activities.

“Feels good,” he said. “Hitting is picking up more and more every day. My workload’s picking up more and more every day.”

Norby hopes to begin appearing in games this weekend.

“That’s the goal, no hiccups,” he said. “But I feel good, feel normal.”

Hyde said the best-case scenario for Norby is “maybe Sunday or Monday.”

Nothing new on Kyle Bradish, who played catch yesterday from 90 feet and with greater intensity on his throws.

“Similar type of progression, just lengthen him out a little bit,” Hyde said. “Seeing how he recovers.”

Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann will pitch for the first time Friday in North Port behind starter Tyler Wells. Zimmermann is trying to make the club as a back-end starter or long reliever.

Hyde didn’t give away the club’s agreement with veteran right-hander Julio Teheran on a minor league contract with a spring invite. An announcement is pending.

Asked whether he’s satisfied with the number of starter candidates in camp, Hyde said, “I think we’re always looking for rotation depth. We understand how important that is.

“I think Mike (Elias) is still keeping all options open and we’re still looking for guys that can give us some rotation depth.”

Getting that type of pitcher also opens up long-relief possibilities.

“That’s why we’re going to take a long look at Zimmermann, stretch maybe some of these relievers out a little bit,” Hyde said. “Knock on wood we don’t have any injuries, rotation-wise, the rest of the way, but you just never have enough and you never have enough guys who can give you length out of the bullpen.

“Zimm’s important for us. Taking a good look at him. As well as getting some of these relievers to get multiple innings to figure that out.”

Today marks 10 years since former Orioles public relations director Monica Barlow left us after a fierce and courageous battle with stage four lung cancer.

We remember.

* The Orioles made the Teheran deal official this afternoon and also announced the signing of infielder Kolten Wong to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

The camp roster swells to 64 players.

Wong, 33, appeared in 87 games last year between the Mariners and Dodgers and slashed .183/.256/.263 in 250 plate appearances. He went 9-for-30 with two homers in 20 games with the Dodgers and made the National League Division Series roster.

The native of Hawaii finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting with the Cardinals in 2014 and won Gold Gloves in 2019 and 2020.

Wong is a career .256/.330/.390 hitter in 11 seasons – the first eight with the Cardinals followed by two with the Brewers. Baseball-Reference.com calculates his WAR at 22.1 and dWAR at 7.9.

The Orioles are dumping Wong into a talented young infield, where he provides depth – similar to Teheran among pitchers – in case of injury.

He also gives the club a left-handed bat for second base - an option if Jackson Holliday doesn't make the team.