The Baltimore Orioles will open their season this week without All-Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

A standout at Morgan Academy in Selma and Alabama’s Mr. Baseball in 2019, Henderson hasn’t played in a Grapefruit League game since he left Baltimore’s contest against the Toronto Blue Jays on Feb. 27 after experiencing right side discomfort.

The Orioles later announced Henderson had a right intercostal strain. An intercostal strain is an injury to the muscles between the ribs.

“Definitely not good when we’re breaking here without Gunnar,” Baltimore general manager Mike Elias said on Sunday. “But I think that position-player core in this offense can pick up the slack.

“He’s going to stay back in Florida. He took simulated at-bats yesterday. Hit very well. He’s going to take more today, he’s going to take more tomorrow, he’s going to take more the next day. But he will start the season on the IL, which will be a minimum of seven days missed. We’re going to try and get him out there as soon as possible. Obviously, I’m very hopeful that the IL stint will be measured in days instead of weeks, but I don’t have a crystal ball. But he’s doing well, and it’s a matter of getting him prepared for the season, getting him at-bats, measuring his recovery.”

The Orioles open their 2025 American League season against the Toronto Blue Jays at 2:07 p.m. CDT Thursday at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Henderson finished fourth in the voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award for the 2024 season. He hit 37 home runs and had 118 runs and 92 RBIs in 2024, when he started at shortstop for the American League at the MLB All-Star Game.

In 2023, Henderson won the Jackie Robinson Award as the American League Rookie of the Year.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.