Shortstop Gunnar Henderson will try to break out of his prolonged offensive funk tonight from atop the order.

Henderson is batting .221/.291/.410 in 84 games. He’s 22-for-98 (.224) this month after slashing .225/.262/.367 in May.

Left fielder Taylor Ward is lowered to second. He’s 4-for-9 with two doubles against Sean Burke and a career .313 hitter against the White Sox with a .397 on-base percentage and .504 slugging.

“It’s a long run from Ward out (from) left field after the inning’s over, run down, grab his stuff and go lead off,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “So I just want to switch it up.”

It’s more likely that the club is trying something different to get Henderson back to his past form.

“Breaks up the rhythm, breaks up the cadence, the routine,” Albernaz said. “Obviously, both of those guys have hit in those two spots this year and in years past, so not a big change for them. Hopefully, it kind of gets something going for us.”

Asked whether he’s thought about lowering Henderson in the lineup, Albernaz smiled and said, “Yeah, absolutely. He hit second. He’s hitting first today.”

Henderson is batting .206 with a .638 OPS in 24 games atop the order this season and .227 with a .728 OPS when second. He’s a career .266/.336/.513 hitter 197 games at leadoff.

Maybe he’s found the right opponent. Henderson is a career .333/.450/.580 (27-for-81) hitter with five doubles, five home runs 11 RBIs, 18 walks and 24 runs in 22 games against Chicago.

His 1.030 OPS ranks as his second highest against any team behind the Angels (1.165).

President of baseball operations Mike Elias took his turn this week expressing confidence in Henderson’s ability to bust out.

“I’m not the technical expert that I think our hitting coaches or Alby are to talk about the specifics of why he’s playing under his ability at the plate, but it’s all manageable, fixable stuff,” Elias said.

“Gunnar’s working his butt off. He cares like crazy, and we see flashes of it. He’s still very, very helpful to this team and one of the best players in baseball. I think last time I talked, I thought he was going to get going. To be answering this question again, we’re probably all frustrated, including him. But he will get going.”

Colton Cowser stays in center field, where he made three outstanding plays yesterday, including a leaping catch to take away a two-run homer and an assist on a one-hop throw to second base.

“It’s just his ability to go out there, it’s not reckless or careless, but he doesn’t have any fear out there when he’s playing center field,” Albernaz said. “Going into the wall, going into the gap, coming in on balls. His closing speed and obviously his arm talent, as well. So it’s one of those things were early in the year it looked like he was trying to feel out some things, and also we had him playing all three positions just because we kind of didn’t know how everything was going to trickle down. But now he’s playing a great center field and he puts a lot of work into it on his one, and especially with (Jason Bourgeois), as well.

“I’m not surprised where he’s at defensively, but that catch yesterday was pretty spectacular.”

Dean Kremer threw a bullpen session today at Camden Yards and is one of the considerations for Wednesday afternoon’s start, according to Albernez.

The spot is listed as TBA. Kremer seems to be the frontrunner, which would require the Orioles to reinstate him from the 60-day injured list and make corresponding 26-man and 40-man moves.

“Get some eyes on him, just kind of like we do with all our rehab guys, where we kind of get them in and get our eyes on them, hands on them,” Albernaz said.

Kremer went on the IL retroactive to April 20 with a right quadriceps strain.

“Good to see Dean,” Albernaz said. “He has a great tan.”

Kremer made two rehab starts with Triple-A Norfolk and he tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings with two hits and eight strikeouts Friday against Durham.

“He threw extremely well,” Albernaz said. “Yeah, efficient, throwing a ton of strikes. And to me, with all of our starters, that’s when they’re at their best when throwing a ton of strikes. I love how the split has been, not progressing, but the way he’s been throwing it during these rehab outings, as well.”

For the White Sox
Sam Antonacci LF
Miguel Vargas 3B
Colson Montgomery SS
Kyle Teel C
Randal Grichuk DH
Braden Montgomery RF
Tristan Peters CF
Chase Meidroth 2B
Jacob Gonzalez 1B

Sean Burke RHP