Urías slowed by sore hamstring, Hyde on Henderson, rotation's fifth spot still up for grabs

BRADENTON, Fla. – Ramón Urías is out of the Orioles lineup for a third consecutive day as he recovers from a sore hamstring.

Manager Brandon Hyde indicated that Urías’ return was imminent.

“He went through a full day today,” Hyde said. “It got a little tight on him yesterday, but nothing to be concerned about. He should be back in a couple days. It’s a hamstring, so we just want to make sure. He went through full defensive work today and batting practice.”

Urías is 7-for-23 (.304) with two doubles and a home run in nine games. He started at third base Wednesday.

The Orioles expect Urías to break camp in his usual utility role, and his importance increases with Gunnar Henderson questionable due to a strained right ribcage muscle.

Henderson is taking light swings and engaging in fielding drills, and he said earlier today that the plan is to make the Opening Day roster. He hasn’t played since Feb. 27 and is stuck on six at-bats.

“It’s getting there,” he said. “It’s a lot better than what it originally felt like.”

“We’re all hopeful that he’ll be ready,” Hyde said. “I just think it’s gonna depend on how many at-bats he can get, how this thing reacts after a game with soreness, all that kind of stuff. He hasn’t had any sort of game action, so making athletic plays at shortstop to swinging really aggressively, we’ve just got to kind of check all those boxes before. And he’s got to have at-bats, too. He hasn’t had a spring training, so depending on how many at-bats he can get.”

The Orioles will err on the side of caution, as they do with any player. And Henderson isn’t just any player.

“It’s definitely something that we don’t want to linger into the season and throughout the season,” Hyde said. “Whether it’s intercostal or oblique or whatever side muscles are, you want to make sure that that’s free and clear. He’s so important to us and we want to make sure he’s right and he’s not playing through any sort of injury or feeling soreness first part of the season.”

The rotation is almost set with Zach Eflin starting on Opening Day and Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano following in some order.

“We’re still kicking around the two through five right now,” Hyde said. “Two through four are pretty close. I don’t think we’re close on five yet. We’re still pulling through our options there. Charlie’s gonna be in there at some point and Sugano’s gonna be in there and I would assume Dean.”

Albert Suárez and Cade Povich are the finalists for the fifth spot, which leads into the March 31 home opener against the Red Sox. Suárez makes his next bid Sunday in Lakeland.

“I want them to pitch well,” Hyde said. “They both bring different things to the table for us. Albert has some relief experience, Cade throws left-handed. He’d be the only left-handed starter. We’re looking at how we play, all those types of things are gonna come into play.

“You can’t option Albert, so there’s a lot of factors there. We’re all extremely happy about how both of those guys are throwing in camp. We’re gonna continue to watch them and talk about it.”

Relievers on the trip today include Keegan Akin, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Corbin Martin.

Here is the Orioles’ Spring Breakout lineup for tonight in Sarasota:

Enrique Bradfield Jr. LF
Samuel Basallo C
Dylan Beavers DH
Vance Honeycutt CF
Ethan Anderson 1B
Jud Fabian RF
Griff O’Ferrall SS
Aron Estrada 2B
Max Wagner 3B

Keeler Morfe RHP