Orioles new GM’s influence over Pete Crow-Armstrong hints at a big Gunnar Henderson bounceback

As the Baltimore Orioles have found themselves at or near the bottom of the American League East for the last two seasons, much of the blame has been placed on the “core” and their inability to live up to expectations. 

Since winning American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2023 and finishing top five in MVP voting the following year, Gunnar Henderson has put up back-to-back seasons below the lofty expectations he established.

Jackson Holliday was quickly pushed to the big leagues and has struggled to produce while battling multiple injuries. Jordan Westburg has performed when on the field, but staying healthy has been a challenge, and he’s now coming off a missed 2026 season due to Tommy John surgery. And while Colton Cowser has emerged as a strong center field option, his bat has yet to live up to expectations, and the same is true of Dylan Beavers and his bat. 

The Orioles are listening to offers on everyone except Pete Alonso this offseason as they attempt to improve the roster, but Orioles President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias seemed to throw cold water on the idea of key members of the core going anywhere while speaking with the media at the GM meetings in Las Vegas. 

Meanwhile, newly hired general manager Jared Banner has spent his first few weeks introducing himself to Birdland, and his comments about player development could provide a glimpse into how the Orioles can help that core turn things around.

Jared Banner's previous success with the Pete Crow-Armstrong in Chicago could hint at big improvements in Baltimore

In a recent interview with The Banner Baseball podcast, Jared Banner praised the Orioles’ hitting development in the minors, but acknowledged that they need to improve at translating that minor league success to the major leagues. 

A prime example of Banner successfully working with a player on that transition is Pete Crow-Armstrong. PCA’s year-over-year growth that helped him emerge as an MVP candidate in 2026 wasn’t a quick fix, according to Jared Banner. 

“We put together a lot of different plans for [Pete Crow-Armstrong], and none of them really took for a while, and then one day on our most recent plan, it worked. It clicked in his head…but he was able to give himself some visualization that allowed him to be more selective, and it worked for him overnight, and he believed in it and stuck with it and turned it into an MVP season,” Banner explained.

One specific area of PCA’s game discussed was his ability to chase less and have pitchers come to him more. In 2024 and 2025, PCA chased at a 42% clip. This season, he was able to get that down to 34%. He was also much more selective when he decided to swing, forced pitchers in the zone, and did his damage there. Gunnar Henderson, on the other hand, has seen his chase rate climb year over year over the last three years. Can Banner’s experience working with PCA to correct this issue help Gunnar Henderson turn things around in 2027?

Banner has frequently discussed the idea that the greats in the game share a “growth mindset” and a constant urge to get better. The Orioles preached that mentality when Mike Elias first took over the reins, but the messaging appeared to go stale, as evidenced by moving on from former Vice President of player and staff development Matt Blood, who ushered in the growth mindset mentality down on the farm in 2019-2020. Now under Banner, the Orioles are already investing in hiring a director of mental health performance to help players with the mental side of the game, and Banner’s PCA story may provide some insight into how the Orioles can help this core turn things around at the plate.

As Banner discussed, PCA’s growth didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t the result of a cookie-cutter approach. It was an individualized plan developed through trial and error before something clicked. The Orioles don’t need to reinvent their entire player-development system under Banner. They already have plenty of evidence that their minor-league operation can produce talent. But perhaps a more individualized approach can benefit the major league roster.

Steamer projections for 2027 are out and project Gunnar Henderson for a near 5.0 fWAR season and a 125 wRC+, offering another reason for optimism and a sign that things may not be completely broken, but instead in need of a tune-up. 

If Banner can bring the same willingness to experiment, adapt, and individualize player development that he described from his time with Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Orioles may not need to tear apart their young core this offseason. They may simply need to find the right way to unlock it. And Gunnar Henderson doesn’t need to turn into Pete Crow-Armstrong in 2027, but getting him back on track will go a long way in getting the Orioles offense as a whole back rolling and, hopefully, a return to the playoffs sooner rather than later. 

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