This young Orioles All-Star is poised for a massive second half of 2025

Gunnar Henderson had a better first half than you think. Posting a 9.1 bWAR season as a 23-year-old phenom is a tough act to follow. In 2024, Henderson finished the season with a .281/.364/.529 slash line, good for an .893 OPS and a fourth-place MVP finish. The trajectory was only pointing up, and the ceiling didn't seem like it could get much higher for the young Baltimore Orioles star.

Since then, though, Henderson has been on fire. Since June 1, the star shortstop has been hitting a whopping .319 with an on-base percentage close to .400 and an .884 OPS, right in line with his numbers from a season ago.

Henderson's slugging percentage has taken a bit of a hit, but that has improved recently too. The lefty has three home runs in his last 15 games, roughly one in every 20 at-bats, or five percent. Last season, Henderson hit 37 home runs in 630 at-bats, just shy of six percent. His power numbers continuing to come along would be a massive boost for an Orioles lineup that could be losing some power bats at the upcoming trade deadline.

Despite the Orioles struggles, expect Gunnar Henderson to have a big second half

Of course, without Baltimore winning as many games as the last few seasons, Henderson's numbers won't garner the same kind of notoriety. The shortstop's ascension coincided with the O's, but now, his early struggles did the same with his team's. But over the last two months, the Orioles have been playing much better baseball, and Henderson has been doing the same.

The shortstop's name is certainly not among the group that has been floated in trade rumors as we hit late July. Henderson is here for the long haul as the team's every day shortstop, and his name will, more often than not, be penciled into the top-three of Baltimore's batting order. His turnaround is imparitive to the O's win-loss record.

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, and assuming that the Orioles will move on from some contributing pieces at the trade deadline, Baltimore's record may not be something to be terribly optimistic about. But if pieces like Henderson can continue their strong stretches and have a big second half of the season, they could lead the charge in belief that Baltimore has the core pieces in place to compete in 2026.

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