Gunnar Henderson’s latest injury issue is showing Orioles that they may have real problem

After being considered one of baseball’s next superstars in 2024, Gunnar Henderson has hit one heck of a tailspin over the last two seasons. While he hasn’t exactly been awful, his recent play has been a far cry from the elite levels he dazzled us with just a few years ago. But as we learn more about his injury history, his willingness to play through the pain could be what’s to blame. While that solves the mystery of his sudden regression, it creates a whole new problem for the Baltimore Orioles moving forward. 

As reported by Jake Rill of MLB.com, Henderson offered up a rare moment of candidness surrounding his battle with injuries ahead of the Orioles final series of the 2026 season against the Yankees. When asked about his tough season, the young shortstop revealed that a wrist injury made things a little more challenging this year. 

“I really don’t like making excuses, because everybody’s banged up at this point in the year. But yeah, I had a little wrist issue going on,” Henderson told reporters at Yankee Stadium. “But I felt like bat knob changes helped that out. So it was just minor, getting that a little bit better. But like I said, everybody’s banged up at this point in the year. It just sucks that it happened. It is what it is.”

It’s admirable for a player to want to battle through the occasional injury. This can be especially true for a franchise famous for Cal Ripken Jr.'s unbeatable consecutive games played streak. However, in Henderson’s case, it is now the second season in a row that an injury has clearly impacted how he is able to play the game. For a team in such a tough division, that hindrance could be the difference between postseason contention and painful disappointment. 

Gunnar Henderson is hurting himself and the Orioles by playing hurt  

Following the conclusion of the 2025 season, Henderson admitted in an interview that a shoulder impingement had altered his swing for the majority of the year. While it was surprising  to hear how an All-Star player battled through such a prolonged injury, it did help explain his dramatic dropoff from the season before. 

After hitting 37 home runs in 2024, Henderson was only able to hit 17 last season. He also saw a pretty steep regression in his ability to barrel up the ball. As a result, his slugging percentage dropped by nearly 90 points and his OPS dropped by more than 100 points. To make matters worse, the Orioles went from 91 wins and a postseason appearance in 2024 to just 75 wins in 2025. 

Does that teamwide regression fall squarely on Henderson’s shoulders? Of course not. But as the face of the franchise, he has a major say in how well his team performs on the field. That carried over into this season when Henderson struggled even more and the Orioles failed to win a number of close games, which ultimately cost them a shot at the postseason. 

Despite hitting 24 home runs in 2026, Henderson saw his overall offensive game tumble even more than last season. With a .226/.311/.404 slash line, he saw career lows in each category. His 102 wRC+ was also the lowest in his five-year career. That drop in Henderson’s production was simply too much for the Orioles to overcome this season as they made their final push towards the playoffs.  

As of now, it is not clear how long Henderson had been dealing with a sore wrist or how severe the injury was. But with an ever greater regression in his average exit velocity throughout the season, it may have been an issue for some time. This raises the question as to how long the Orioles knew about the wrist injury.        

With Henderson already battling through a shoulder injury last season, should the club have been more vigilant in properly treating Henderson’s wrist this year? He is clearly the type of player that will do anything it takes to take the field, but that might not be in the team’s best interest. 

Like we saw with the mismanagement of stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge this season, ball players want to play. But toughing out an injury can greatly alter a player’s game and not only lead to poor stats, but an increased risk of additional injuries. 

The Orioles will need to have a serious discussion with Henderson over his health moving forward. If they fail to act, they could be doing a disservice to his career and the performance of the team.  

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