Orioles just got their biggest offseason boost without making a single roster move

Despite big offseason splashes, the Baltimore Orioles’ have another “big move” this winter already sitting in the clubhouse. Just the simplest thing a team can ask for after a miserable, injury-soaked year is their best player being healthy again.

Buried inside the usual offseason noise was the most important sentence for Baltimore’s entire 2026 vibe: Gunnar Henderson says he’s good. Fully recovered. Back to normal. And if you watched the 2025 Orioles drift into that early fade-out (a 75-win season), you know exactly why this news matters. 

Orioles’ most refreshing offseason boost didn’t require a single transaction thanks to news on Gunnar Henderson's health

Henderson’s 2025 line was still “star” territory — .274/.349/.438, 17 homers, basically matching the production level he posted in 2023 when he took home AL Rookie of the Year. But the point isn’t that he was bad. The point is that he wasn’t the 2024 version who played like a problem the entire league had to solve every night. 

And now we know why. Henderson revealed he spent about three-quarters of the season dealing with a shoulder impingement, on top of the intercostal strain that cost him most of spring training and the first week of the regular season. That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t always show up as a headline… until you look at the power dip and realize the “random” drop actually had a reason. (He went from 37 homers in 2024 to 17 in 2025.) 

But here’s what really sticks: Henderson still played 154 of the 155 games he was available for after coming off the IL in early April. Which is admirable, sure. But also kind of infuriating? Because the Orioles weren’t in a tight pennant race where you’d understand pushing through. They were sinking. And when your franchise shortstop is quietly fighting a shoulder issue while the season is slipping away, that’s when an organization should consider protecting the asset — even from himself. 

But the truth is a little more simple than “what is” in 2025. If the Orioles get the 2024 version of Gunnar Henderson back, they don’t just “add a player.” They get their edge back. That’s the kind of offseason win you can’t fake — and the kind that changes everything before another transaction hits the wire.