PHOENIX -- As the Orioles looked for more consistent offensive production, they waited for Gunnar Henderson’s bat to heat up. The 23-year-old star shortstop -- who returned from a right intercostal strain to make his season debut Friday in Kansas City -- couldn’t do it alone. But there’s often a trickle-down effect from his spot atop Baltimore’s batting order.
“Gunnar being back is a major difference for us, and he hasn’t gotten going yet,” manager Brandon Hyde said before his club’s series opener in Arizona. “And so, whether that’s this series or down the road, it’s going to come, and it’s going to come quick.”
It came Monday night at Chase Field.
Henderson did a bit of everything during a 5-1 win over the D-backs. He went 2-for-4 with a double, scored two runs, stole two bases and reached base in three of his five plate appearances. The performance sparked a better offensive showing for the O’s, who had scored more than four runs only once over their previous five games.
After getting struck out by Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen to open the game, Henderson was 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts through 14 plate appearances this season. But he roped a 106.3 mph double to right field in the third -- his first extra-base hit of the year -- and then scored on an Adley Rutschman single.
Although Henderson went on the injured list for the first time in his four-year MLB career at the start of the season, the intercostal injury he sustained Feb. 27 was no longer bothering him. He just needed more at-bats against live pitching in order to ramp up.
“The injury was never bugging me. It was just a matter of getting the timing down and just getting my feet up under me,” Henderson said. “Felt like the timing was pretty good, but obviously don’t get the Major League reps until you’re actually here. Stunk that I missed that much spring, but glad to be back now.”
As Henderson continued to add reps on Monday, he led off the fifth with a single and then stole his first base of the year. He later scored on Ryan Mountcastle’s two-out, two-run single that pushed Baltimore’s lead to 5-1.
In the sixth, Henderson drew a two-out walk and again stole second for his fifth career multi-steal game.
How important will it be for Henderson -- the two-time defending Most Valuable Oriole winner who finished fourth in American League MVP voting last year -- to build upon this and return to being the motor of the Orioles’ offense?
“Obviously, yeah,” Ryan O’Hearn said with a grin. “That’s Gunnar, right? I’ve said it before, I feel like he sets the tone for us. The way he takes the extra base, stealing second all the time. And just how hard he plays. It kind of gets everybody else going and in that mindframe.
“Gunnar being Gunnar is a really good thing for the O’s.”
Baltimore has shown its offensive potential early in the season, scoring eight-plus runs four times, including thrice over its first five games. But the ups and downs have been too extreme for momentum to be built.
The D-backs’ rotation presents a tough challenge for the O’s, who fared well against Gallen but will face two more good righties (Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt) this week.
Hyde knew it would be a good litmus test for his Henderson-led lineup, and he thought his club rose to the occasion in the opener.
“I just thought our at-bats the first five innings were absolutely fantastic off Gallen,” Hyde said. “That's some of our best at-bats of the year. Just how patient we were, how we didn't chase. Everything we kind of talked about before the game, guys put into play.”
Now, it’s time to try to keep it going.
“When the offense starts rolling and you get three or four guys hot at one time, that’s how you rattle off a bunch of wins,” said O’Hearn, who slugged his first homer of the season in the first inning. “Knock on wood, I feel like we’re on the cusp of that. We have all the ingredients to rattle off a bunch of wins and get hot as a team. That’s what we’re trying to do.”