The Orioles have been here before. They just didn’t think they would be back so soon.

Coming off an injury-filled 2024 season, Baltimore entered this year hoping for better injury luck. Right-handers Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells were expected to miss the first half while recovering from Tommy John elbow surgeries, but the Orioles otherwise had a clean bill of health to work with as they attempted to reach the playoffs for the third straight season.

Then Trevor Rogers (knee subluxation) and Chayce McDermott (lat strain) reported to spring training with injuries. Gunnar Henderson (ribs muscle strain), Grayson Rodriguez (tricep/elbow inflammation) and Andrew Kittredge (knee debridement surgery) went down the following weeks, giving the Orioles seven players on the injured list to start the season.

It took one series for two more to join them. The Orioles (3-2) placed Albert Suárez, so often their solution to plugging any holes created by injury last season, on the IL with shoulder inflammation Sunday, the same day Colton Cowser fractured his thumb sliding into first base in what represented the biggest blow yet. Cowser, last year’s American League Rookie of the Year Award runner-up, is expected to be out at least 6-to-8 weeks.

“It’s not good but we’d rather have them at the end of the year, you know? I think for me, I always look for a silver lining,” first baseman Ryan O’Hearn said. “If there is any positive, I try to find it. We have a lot of good players, so that’s a good thing. We’re deep. … Obviously, it sucks. Cowser is a big part of this team and, especially this early, you don’t want to see him go down, but we got to find a way to keep rolling, and we have the personnel to do that.”

The good news is Henderson plans to return when first eligible Thursday, slotting the Orioles’ best player and leadoff hitter back in with relatively little time missed. As O’Hearn put it, “Oh yeah, we got one of the best players in the world coming back.”

They’re going to need him. Baltimore’s depth is once again being tested, this time much earlier than before. Heston Kjerstad will be relied on to step up in Cowser’s absence, finally getting the opportunity to play regularly after fighting for at-bats the past two seasons. He started in left field Monday against a left-handed starter, a vote of confidence from Brandon Hyde in the left-handed hitter’s ability to seize the chance he’s getting.

Kjerstad then rewarded his manager with an RBI single in the Orioles’ home-opening win over the Boston Red Sox.

“Tough assignment. Put him in the middle of the order against the left-handed starter,” Hyde said. “So, that hasn’t happened, not knowing how long their starter was going to go. But to have three tough at-bats and to be able to stay on baseball in that last one, Heston is a good hitter. He’s got a ton of power, he’s a good hitter and uses the whole field, and when he does, good things happen. So, that was a really nice piece of hitting.”

Kjerstad isn’t alone in getting a chance to prove himself because of injuries. Cade Povich, who won the No. 5 starter job in camp, will have a few turns of the rotation to settle in while Rodriguez completes his throwing program and late-offseason addition Kyle Gibson ramps up. Matt Bowman was the choice to replace Suárez in the bullpen after he posted a 3.45 ERA in 15 games for the Orioles last year. Outfielder Dylan Carlson was called up to take Cowser’s roster spot and should see some playing time after a strong spring.

“I felt like I had a good spring,” Carlson said. “Put myself in a good position to be in the mix whenever an opportunity presented itself. So, looking forward to it and hopefully take advantage, help this team win some ballgames.”

With nobody ruled out for the season at this point, the Orioles can still envision a roster at or near full strength coming together later this summer. They’ve also shown flashes, particularly on offense, of being a dangerous team, even with nine players sidelined.

But in the meantime, they’ll see what they have in a handful of players who didn’t appear to have a path to playing time when they reported for camp.

“It’s a long season,” Hyde said. “This is a marathon. You want to get off to a good start, you’re trying to stay as healthy as possible. Injuries happen around the league. You just need to keep going. The game’s not going to stop, the schedule’s not going to stop. I thought we played really well for a couple games there in Toronto. Hopefully, we can play that way going forward.”

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich.