It's time for the Orioles to try something new with Gunnar Henderson

Gunnar Henderson had a bad series against the Houston Astros. It was a bad series in the middle of a bad season for the Baltimore Orioles star shortstop, who came into the season as a dark horse AL MVP candidate. Henderson's season contribution to the Orioles has been incredibly disappointing based on the high standard he'd set for himself in his first three seasons, to the point where some fans have called for him to be benched or even traded. As hard as it's been to watch Henderson struggle, benching him is not a viable option for this Orioles team; they simply don't have the infield depth to do that, especially now that Blaze Alexander is injured. However, they can't just continue to run him out there at the top of the lineup every day. It is time for the Orioles to make a Gunnar Henderson adjustment, and their upcoming series against the Red Sox is the perfect opportunity to do so.

The Orioles need to move Henderson down in the batting order for two reasons. One is that Henderson is simply not producing like a top-of-the-order hitter; batting someone with a sub .300 OBP leadoff is frankly absurd. Obviously, the Orioles have the context that Henderson has been a very good leadoff hitter before, but at this point in the season, the 2026 sample size is large enough to say this guy is not getting on base enough to be hitting at the top of the order.

The other reason is that having Henderson continue to hit at the top of the order while he struggles and fails to live up to what that spot in the order demands is only making his struggles worse. Henderson's growing frustration is evident after every single strikeout, bounce out to second, or shallow pop fly. For much of the season, he's slammed bats and helmets and screamed after making outs. Over the last few games in Houston, he swapped the theatrics for something even more depressing; he just looked despondent.

Gunnar Henderson hitting at the top of the order is not good for him or the Orioles

He is clearly feeling the pressure, and it's clearly affecting him. Every time the Orioles beat reporters ask him about his struggles, all he can say is that he doesn't know what's wrong. He's lost. That doesn't mean he'll be lost forever, but he's lost right now, and just having him go out and hit in the leadoff spot or in the two-hole every game as a sort of never-ending vote of confidence is not helping. At this point, they have to try something different, and it could be very beneficial to Henderson if the Orioles took some of the pressure off his shoulders by moving him down in the lineup.

Look at it this way. Running him out there at the top of the lineup does send the message that the Orioles still believe in him, which is good, but it also sends the message that you are our star and we need you. How many times can a player fail to live up to that and stay in a good headspace? Not forever.

By moving him down in the lineup, the Orioles would be admitting that his struggles are real and not just a run-of-the-mill slump that he is going to break out of any second. As hard as that may be to take for Henderson, you have to imagine that he is aware that he's not playing well. If properly communicated, Henderson being moved down in the lineup could be understood as the team telling him, let someone else worry about being the offensive engine; you just focus on playing good defense at short, and whatever you can provide on offense will be a bonus.

Obviously, the Orioles don't want Henderson to be a defense-first shortstop who occasionally contributes on offense, but that's the player he is right now, and there's no reason to pretend he's not.

Here is why this week is a good opportunity to do this. The Boston Red Sox are going to start three straight left-handed pitchers against the Orioles. Henderson is not a dramatic platoon splits guy, but this season he has hit lefties slightly worse than righties. The upcoming matchup gives the Orioles the opportunity to introduce the idea of moving him down in the lineup and shake up the lineup in preparation for a key matchup.

It's not like the Orioles need to move him down to the nine-hole. Even with how Henderson has struggled, he's still one of the Orioles' most productive hitters this season. Moving him to the fifth or sixth spot in the order would be more than appropriate.

As an example of what this might look like against the Red Sox exclusively left-handed rotation this week, the lineup could be:

1. Taylor Ward, LF
2. Adley Rutschman, C
3. Pete Alonso, 1B
4. Coby Mayo, DH
5. Gunnar Henderson, SS
6. Tyler O'Neill, RF
7. Leody Taveras, CF
8. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B
9. Jackson Holliday, 2B

If Rutschman is still hurt, then Jackson Holliday has actually hit lefties pretty well this year and could be an interesting option at the top of the order.

Hopefully, moving down in the order can serve as a resetting of expectations for Henderson this season, and once he's released from some of the top-of-the-order pressure, he'll be able to relax and find his game again.

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