SARASOTA, Fla. -- Few baseball players compete as hard as Gunnar Henderson. This is the kid who gave himself a bit of a black eye during last year’s American League Division Series, when his face hit the ground while he was sliding into home plate during Game 2 vs. the Rangers at Camden Yards.

“Gunnar’s so driven that sometimes you’ve got to slow him down a little bit,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

So you can imagine how tough it was for Henderson, a known fierce competitor, to not be able to join his teammates in Spring Training games for the first nine days of the Grapefruit League season. The 22-year-old, sidelined early in camp by left oblique soreness, was itching to go.

On Monday afternoon, Henderson got into the action, starting at shortstop and playing four innings of Baltimore’s 7-2 loss to Minnesota at Ed Smith Stadium. Henderson went 1-for-2, striking out in the first and leading off the fourth with a single off right-hander Josh Staumont.

“Obviously, there's still a lot of time in spring, so I just wanted to be conservative so it didn't sit there and linger around the season,” said Henderson, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year. “Glad to be out there and feeling healthy.”

Now that Henderson is past the oblique ailment, he’ll have a typical spring buildup. He expects to be in the Orioles’ lineup about every other day.

There’s also no concern regarding whether Henderson has enough time to be fully ready by Opening Day on March 28, when the Orioles host the Angels at Camden Yards.

“I’ve got plenty of time,” Henderson said. “We’ve still got a little less than a month of games. You don’t even need half of that to get ready for the season.”

After Henderson got a 34-game taste of the Majors late in the 2022 season, his first full year in MLB couldn’t have gone much better. He was voted Most Valuable Oriole by the local media in ‘23 after posting a .255/.325/.489 slash line with 29 doubles, nine triples, a team-high-tying 28 homers, 82 RBIs and 100 runs scored in 150 games.

Henderson also played exceptional defense at both shortstop and third base, spending nearly an equal amount of time at both -- 584 2/3 innings at short and 594 2/3 at third. The Orioles are planning to use Henderson more frequently at shortstop this year, but he’ll still get time at third.

Wherever Henderson is located on the diamond, expect a big sophomore showing.

“He’s got incredible makeup, an unbelievable worker, plays the game as hard as anybody,” Hyde said. “He’s so easy to coach and so fun to watch play.”

As intense as Henderson is on the field, he’s as humble as they come off it. The 2019 second-round Draft pick out of Selma, Ala., is always looking for ways he can improve his game.

So Henderson isn’t even close to complacent after a highly successful season at baseball’s highest level.

“I felt like there were a lot of things I didn't do that great. I mean, there were some that I did pretty well,” Henderson said. “But I feel like there's still a lot of room to improve, and I know that there's a lot more in the tank.”