Blaze Alexander's injury puts immense pressure on the Orioles "superstar"

The Baltimore Orioles are going to be without Blaze Alexander until at least September, if not the rest of the season. Alexander came into this season as a utilityman and bench player, but over the last two and a half months, he's gone from part-time player to one of the Orioles’ most consistent hitters, and he has buoyed a lineup full of underperforming players.

Alexander's production is going to be difficult to replace. The Orioles will fill his spot on the roster with another infielder, but that player is not going to come in and hit .308 at the bottom of the lineup. Unless the Orioles were to move an unprecedented amount of prospects in a trade, they are not going to be able to bring in a bat that can do what Alexander was doing. The only place where the Orioles might be able to find a bat as impactful as the one they just lost in Alexander is if Gunnar Henderson finally snaps out of his season-long slump and plays like the player he is supposed to be.

The Orioles need Gunnar Henderson to step up now more than ever

Even before the Alexander injury, Henderson was under a lot of pressure. He is having the worst season of his career. With every strikeout, grounder to second base, and long flyout that he produces, the frustration is written all over his face. He does have the third most fWAR on the team, so he hasn't been a complete zero, but the difference between what Gunnar Henderson is supposed to be and what he's been this year is a big reason that the Orioles' record is what it is, and he knows it.

With the help of the rest of the American League, the Orioles have managed to stay within striking distance of the playoffs. Blaze Alexander's performance had a lot to do with that, and now that he is going to miss extended time, Henderson must step up.

It would be great for the Orioles if any number of their underperforming young players picked up the slack in Alexander's absence. Seeing any one of Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, or Dylan Beavers go on an offensive heater and fill the hole in the lineup left by Alexander would be a fantastic development. However, in order to do that, those players would have to play better than they've ever played at the big league level. It's hard to ask any player to just simply play better than they've ever played in their life, which is why Henderson is the guy who bears the responsibility to make up for the loss of Alexander.

Henderson has the talent that, if he were to get right, he could make up for what the Orioles are losing all by himself. In 2023, Henderson hit .276/.322/.534 over the last 100 games of the season. In 2024, Henderson slashed .292/.388/.612 for the first three months of the year. In 2025, Henderson had a 100-game stretch where he slashed .291/.366/.470. Every season of his career, he's had a stretch of the season where he played like an MVP candidate, and that is what the Orioles need now. With how he's played so far this season, it feels impossible that Henderson could play like that again, but that ability is still within him. He is not washed at 25 years old; that player still exists somewhere.

If Henderson does not summon the best version of himself and the Orioles fall a few games short of the playoffs, this season will go down as the year that he failed the Orioles, not the other way around. The pressure for him to perform now is greater than it's ever been. The only thing left to see is how he responds to it.

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