President of baseball operations Mike Elias met with the media in the dugout for about 8 ½ minutes this afternoon, shortly before it began to rain and players working out on the field hustled back to the clubhouse.

Elias explained how Dean Kremer went from tonight’s starting pitcher to residing on the 15-day injured list with a strained right quadriceps.

Kremer was doing his normal conditioning work between starts on Monday and aggravated something in his leg. He went through the next few days preparing for his assignment and realized he might have sustained an injury.

A scan confirmed the strain.

“It’s obviously not the end of the world in terms of an injury, but it’s going to take some time,” Elias said. “Our plan is to try to keep his arm in as good of shape as possible because it’s not bothering him too much to throw right now, but we’ve got to let that thing heal and get his lower body condition back.

“I don’t have a timeline yet, but it will be several weeks to say the least.”

Kremer made two starts with the Orioles after they recalled him from Triple-A Norfolk. Brandon Young rejoined the team for tonight’s series opener against the Red Sox at Camden Yards.

The rest of the injury updates could be interpreted as positive, especially on this club.

*Jackson Holliday underwent an MRI and CT scan and X-rays on his right hand after experiencing pain on a first-inning swing in Tuesday’s rehab game with Norfolk. The tests came back clean and Holliday expects to be shut down for about a week before trying again with another assignment.

“I think we’re disappointed in that we were probably expecting them to have him back around now, but we got a couple scans after the episode in Norfolk when he felt some pain on that swing,” Elias said. “We had several doctors look at it, including ours, outside doctors and a surgeon, and from the scans and the exams it doesn’t seem to be anything damaged. It’s just like something that his hand’s adjusting to the lack of the (hamate) bone and had some soft tissue pain.

“Unfortunately, this is adding time, but it’s all within the possible normal spectrum of outcomes with the hamate injury. It doesn’t change the prognosis. It just changes the amount of time that he’s out. We’ve seen these come really quick for some players, and others take a long time to feel like themselves. So we want to let him get through this on an individual basis, and we’re giving him as much time as he needs, but we’re eager to have him back and welcome back with open arms once he’s ready.”

Holliday joked about “knocking out all three” of the imaging tests. He smiled as media approached his locker and happily agreed to be interviewed.

“Everything came back good, which is obviously positive,” he said. “I guess everything’s pretty normal, standard kind of hamate stuff, so all is well there.

“Just trying to get the inflammation to calm down I believe is the plan. Kind of shut down for about a week and then go from there. Luckily, nothing too bad and nothing structural wrong, so just a couple days off and get rolling again.”

Holliday feared the worst after pain shot through his hand on a foul tip in the first inning of Tuesday’s game at Harbor Park.

“It felt like I broke my hand again,” he said. “Obviously, kind of concerning taking a swing and having that kind of pain, but I guess it’s not normal, but obviously nothing structurally wrong, and I guess whenever a tendon rolls over a nerve it can kind of cause that. So it kind of freaked me out just dealing with everything. Yeah, didn’t feel great, so glad everything’s OK.

“At first I was concerned, but about an hour or two, talking with some of the doctors, I became a little bit more eased out and confident nothing was wrong. But at the moment I was a little concerned with how it felt and just everything that had been going on.”

Holliday doesn’t think he’ll need a full 20 days on his rehab assignment, but he understands the risks in trying to rush the process.

“I’d love to be back here already, just kind of how things have gone, but I know when I come back up here I want to be able to feel great,” he said. “I know I’m gonna deal with some things and I think it’s just part of it, but I want to be in a position where I’m confident going up to the plate and taking a swing without my hand feeling terrible. That’s where I want to be, just going out there and having confidence and everything with my swing as opposed to maybe like feeling a little bit timid, like, ‘How is this going to feel when I take this swing.’ But I would love to be up here very soon.”

Holliday won’t obsess over the players who also had hamate surgery, like Franciso Lindor and Corbin Carroll this spring, and came back more quickly. Cases can differ.

“Some guys take longer than others,” he said. “It’s just kind of part of it. It’s kind of a weird thing that some guys deal with a little bit longer than others. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a very long season and my goal is just to come back healthy and help the team win.”

The return to Norfolk after two games with High-A Frederick lasted one at-bat. He’s 9-for-51 (.176) overall.

“It was better the last week,” Holliday said. “I thought I was seeing the ball good, I was in a pretty comfortable position.”

*Infielder Jordan Westburg is hitting and throwing in Sarasota after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow in spring training. He’s on the 60-day IL.

“That’s moving along,” Elias said. “I don’t have major updates on that, but it’s kind of no news is good news for now. Not at the point of announcing a rehab assignment, but the train kind of continues to move in the expected direction and so far, so good.”

Westburg could return as a designated hitter to eliminate the strain on his elbow from making throws across the field, but Elias remains optimistic that there won’t be any restrictions.

“I hope that doesn’t become a conversation,” he said. “I guess we’ll cross that bridge. But right now we’re preparing him to come back as an infielder and a third baseman.”

*Outfielder Heston Kjerstad hasn’t appear in a game since injuring his right hamstring while running out a ground ball late in spring training. He’s doing full baseball activities in Sarasota, including hitting and throwing.

It’s a low-grade strain.

“Not ready to announce rehab assignment dates with him,” Elias said, “but I feel like it’s right around the corner.”

*The bullpen could get some reinforcements soon with left-handers Keegan Akin and Dietrich Enns. Akin, who strained his left groin while warming in the Ed Smith Stadium bullpen, returned to Camden Yards today. Enns is recovering from a left foot infection.

“Akin has gotten through a few rehab assignments pretty well,” Elias said. “I think it’s a possibility we see him pretty soon. Obviously, we haven’t completed his IL stint yet, but he’s doing well and it should be a matter of days before we can maybe get him back on the team. And pretty similar situation with Enns.

“He had a really strange episode where he had some type of infection and it caused a tremendous amount of inflammation in his foot. That’s cleared out. He’s pitching now in Norfolk, but we’ve got to make sure he’s back to himself and sharp, and also conditioned to come back and pitch in a major league bullpen.

“I think both of those guys, it’s more like days than weeks, hopefully.”

*Reliever Yaramil Hiraldo is on the 60-day IL with inflammation in his right shoulder joint.

“We’re making sure that cleans out,” Elias said. “We’ve got to build his arm strength back up, so it’s gonna take a little bit of time. That’s why we put him on the 60, but I do expect him back in the early part of the year.”

*Closer Ryan Helsley will return this weekend from the bereavement/family medical emergency list.

*Norfolk outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. is day-to-day with left hand soreness.

Bradfield is batting .224/.321/.388 with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs in 13 games.

*After consultation with Major League Baseball, Saturday’s scheduled 4:05 p.m. game has been moved to 12:05 p.m. due to forecasted inclement weather. Gates will open at 10:30 a.m.