Gunnar Henderson carried a right wrist problem through roughly half of Baltimore’s 2026 season, another physical hurdle in a year that left the Orioles shortstop and his club looking for better answers.
Speaking after Friday’s split doubleheader against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, Henderson said he was reluctant to discuss the injury because, in his view, every player is dealing with something by this stage of the schedule. Still, he acknowledged that the wrist issue affected him and that changes to his bat knob helped ease it.
Quick facts
- Henderson said a right wrist issue lingered for about half of the 2026 season.
- He has played 157 games for Baltimore while handling shortstop.
- His 2026 line stands at .225 with 24 home runs and a .714 OPS.
- The Orioles are 79-82 with one game left, Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
- Baltimore will miss the postseason for a second straight year after playoff trips in 2023 and 2024.
The wrist was not the only explanation Henderson offered for a down year. He said there were times when he tried to manufacture results instead of letting the game come to him, while also working through swing thoughts that never fully settled into place.
“I don’t want to use excuses,” Henderson said. “Everybody is beat up at this point. It was minor, and the bat-knob changes helped, but it was frustrating that it happened.”
The 25-year-old entered the season knowing the standard he had set. In 2023, Henderson made the All-Star team, finished fourth in American League MVP voting and produced career highs with 37 homers and an .893 OPS. The former second-round pick in the 2019 Draft had looked capable of taking over a game on either side of the ball.
His power remained present this year with 24 home runs, but the overall production slipped to career lows in batting average and OPS. Henderson said opposing pitchers adjusted to him, and he did not counter quickly enough.
“It hasn’t just vanished,” Henderson said of his ability. “There have been games where it has shown up. Pitchers are paid to adjust, and they did a good job of it. I just didn’t make the adjustment I needed to make this year.”
Manager Craig Albernaz pointed first to Henderson’s durability before Friday’s games. Playing 157 times, particularly at shortstop, is a demanding workload, and Albernaz believes the next step is not asking Henderson to carry Baltimore’s entire offense.
That is where first baseman Pete Alonso’s presence matters. Albernaz sees Alonso’s emergence as a clubhouse leader giving Henderson more room to play his own game: defend, run, use all fields and avoid pressing to be the one player responsible for every big moment.
“Gunnar does not need to carry all of it,” Albernaz said. “The best version of him is playing baseball the way he can play it — defending, running the bases and hitting to every part of the field.”
Baltimore’s season ends Sunday in the Bronx, with no October baseball waiting afterward. That failure weighs more heavily on Henderson than his individual numbers, especially after the Orioles reached the postseason in both 2023 and 2024.
Henderson said playoff baseball is the expectation he brings into every season, and missing it again will stay with him through the winter. His offseason work will include refining his swing and returning healthy, but the larger target is clear: prepare for a 2027 season that ends in October.
