Gunnar Henderson got his uniform dirty Tuesday, a sign that “means you did something,” he said. Baseball’s top prospect had been waiting a bit to do anything.
In the Orioles’ road spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Henderson became Baltimore’s last regular to appear in a Grapefruit League exhibition after missing the first three games as some wrist soreness healed. Manager Brandon Hyde noted that Henderson “would have been able to play, no problem,” but the team didn’t want to unnecessarily push him for spring training games.
“Just a little bit of taking too many swings at the beginning,” Henderson said. “Coming from the offseason, I took a good amount of swings, but getting down here in the heat and then your body wearing down a little bit and then just keep swinging a lot, that just kind of wore it down a little bit and got it a little sore. Wasn’t really worth [it to] keep doing that and then go into the season not healthy. Got over it now, and I’m ready to roll.”
He backed that up with his play. In his first spring at-bat, he grounded a single up the middle. To end the bottom of the third, he ranged to his left for a diving stop at third base.
Henderson figures to be the Orioles’ regular third baseman this season and will also see time at shortstop. On Tuesday, Joey Ortiz manned shortstop with Jordan Westburg at second, an infield arrangement of top prospects the Orioles have deployed in the minors and could feature in the majors at some point this season. Westburg had two hits, both put in play at more than 101 mph.
Baltimore’s clubhouse features many of the organization’s top prospects, with Henderson topping those lists.
“We’re all really fierce competitors, but we all love each other and we want to see the best out of each and every person here,” Henderson said. “We all try to do whatever we can to help, and that’s ultimately going to win us a championship one day.”
Henderson wasn’t the only positive injury news for the Orioles on Tuesday. Outfielder Anthony Santander is expected to be in Wednesday’s lineup after leaving Monday’s game after taking a pitch off his left kneecap.
“I’m OK, guys,” he said as reporters approached his locker Tuesday morning.
Bradish has it all working
When Kyle Bradish made a strong impression last spring by pitching well in road games against the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, he faced lineups stacked with those teams’ major league regulars.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday, but Bradish’s dominance was still an early statement in his push to win a spot in Baltimore’s rotation. He retired all six Pirates he faced, recording two strikeouts with his slider, getting two ground balls on his sinker and leaving the outing pleased with his curveball, as well. His four-seam fastball reached 96.3 mph.
“Anytime you go out there and you have five weapons that are working, it makes pitching easier, but it is still early,” Bradish said. “There’s still stuff to work on, so not gonna look too much into this, but it’s nice to have some success early.”
Bradish added the sinker late last season amid a strong close to the season, posting a 3.28 ERA in 13 starts after a stint on the injured list for a shoulder injury. He honed the pitch this offseason at Push Performance Gym in Arizona, also working to add some sweep back to his slider after he noticed its break shortened up late last year.
His second-half success in 2022 puts him in the upper half of the Orioles’ 12 rotation candidates this spring. He said his approach this spring is the same as the last one, when, despite pitching well, he was optioned to Triple-A ahead of an April debut.
“I had a long shot of making the team out of camp, but my mindset was coming in and trying to make a name for myself and put it into the coaches’ hands,” Bradish said. “I didn’t want to do anything to mess that up, and then kind of same thing this year. I’m gonna do what I do, and then it’s up to them.”
Tuesday’s game also marked the first this spring in which multiple rotation candidates appeared. Mike Baumann allowed a run in two innings. Hyde said the Orioles will get creative with backfield work as the spring goes on, their starters get stretched out and the team won’t be able to use two in one game.
Ump no show
The top of the ninth inning ended with the Orioles losing, but that didn’t mean the game was over.
Baltimore had one more pitcher it wanted to give work, so the teams agreed to play the bottom of the ninth. But the umpiring crew was not on board, Hyde said, resulting in them leaving the field and right-hander Ofreidy Gómez pitching without umpires. The scoreboard showed the Pirates’ logo, and the pitch clock was off. Catcher Maverick Handley was responsible for calling balls and strikes, at one point crediting himself for framing a borderline pitch.
“A little backfield action,” Hyde said. “We were told by the league that we could clear it by the umpires and pitch the bottom half of the ninth inning, and I guess [crew chief] Chad Fairchild felt that we couldn’t.”
Gómez worked a scoreless inning to close out the Orioles’ 7-4 loss.
Grapefruit League
Blue Jays at Orioles
Wednesday, 1:05 p.m.
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