Orioles need this one bat to heat up amid overwhelming lineup struggles

Gunnar Henderson has been by far the Baltimore Orioles' best player since he debuted in 2022. With how talented he is, he'll likely be the Orioles best player as long as he wants to wear the uniform. With that being the case, and with lots of Orioles having gotten off to slow starts this season, it feels a little unfair to lay the blame for the Orioles slow start at Henderson's feet.

Henderson leads the team in homers, triples, and stolen bases. However, out of all the players on the 2026 Orioles, nobody has the potential to drive winning the way Henderson can if he's right, and if the Orioles want to rise out of the fat middle of the standings and compete with the Yankees for a division title, they need Henderson to play at his best.

As an example of how impactful Henderrson can be when he's right, he's had one stretch this season where he looked like the MVP candidate he's supposed to be. From April 6th to April 13th, Henderson slashed .267/.353/.767; the batted-ball data and BABIP numbers indicate that he was actually unlucky that week. He had six extra base hits, two stolen bases, and four walks in seven games; the Orioles went 6-1, that's half their wins on the season racked up during one Gunnar Henderson hot streak.

In the nine games since then, Henderson is slashing .103/.163/205, and the Orioles are 3-6. Other hitters on the Orioles have been scorching hot during this stretch. Jeremiah Jackson, Taylor Ward, and Leody Taveras have looked like stars, and Pete Alonso has started to warm up.

Orioles need Gunnar Henderson to get hot

Hopefully, this Henderson cold streak is the result of pressing. Early in the season, most of the Orioles lineup's bats were ice cold. Once Adley Rutschman went down, and suddenly the number of statistically above-average bats in the lineup fell to two, it would have been easy for Henderson to feel like he needed to win games on his own. As a result, he's been overly aggressive at the plate, chasing and whiffing much more than usual for him.

It was also jarring to see Henderson get picked off at first twice in a game against the Royals. It's possible that the Royals did some film study and caught on to a tendency for Henderson to take an overly large lead right after getting the first, but it's also likely that Henderson, having watched the Orioles struggle at the plate over the last week and knowing how important it was for him to score after getting on base, took an irresponsibly large lead in an attempt to set up a steal to get into scoring position.

If Henderson can focus on just playing his game, he should return to the reliable hitter he's been for his entire career. The power that was lacking last year seems to have returned. If Henderson can marry that power with his usual plate discipline, he and the Orioles will be off to the races.

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