Baltimore Orioles Get Series of Poor Health Updates as Spring Training Begins

As spring training begins, the Baltimore Orioles have gotten poor health updates on pitchers Kyle Bradish and John Means, as well as Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson.

The Baltimore Orioles, a trendy pick to win the American League pennant in 2024, got some poor injury news on Thursday.

Per Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner:

Kyle Bradish will start the season on the IL with a sprained UCL. He got a PRP shot and will begin throwing progression tomorrow

Other injury updates from Elias: 

-Means likely out for opening day too, he’s a month behind as he had to rest his elbow after the flare up 

-Henderson had mild oblique aggregation two weeks ago. Should be fine in 2-3 weeks 

-Basallo has a stress fracture in his throwing elbow

Other injury updates from Elias:
-Means likely out for opening day too, he’s a month behind as he had to rest his elbow after the flare up
-Henderson had mild oblique aggregation two weeks ago. Should be fine in 2-3 weeks
-Basallo has a stress fracture in his throwing elbow

— Danielle Allentuck (@d_allentuck) February 15, 2024

Those are some big developments for the O's, who won 101 games last year and captured the American League East crown. While all of these players will likely still be big contributors in 2024, it's not advantageous to have any of your core players injured, especially in a tough division like the American League East.

Given the improvements of the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, a fast start could make a big difference in the race for the division crown. If Baltimore starts slow because of injuries, they could have a hard time repeating.

The 27-year-old Bradish burst out onto the scene in 2023, going 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA. He made his debut in 2022 and is 16-14 lifetime with a 3.68 ERA.

As for Means, he returned late last season from Tommy John surgery. He went 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA, but was an All-Star in 2019. Lifetime, he is 21-26 with a 3.74.

Henderson captured the American League Rookie of the Year Award and is one of the best young players in baseball already. He hit .255 last season with 28 homers and 82 RBI.

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