Gunnar Henderson’s emotional lows could drag Orioles down

Nearly halfway through the 2026 season, the Orioles have slipped six games below .500, and the biggest surprise might be Gunnar Henderson’s drop in form. As Henderson’s batting struggles and on-field missteps pile up, the Orioles’ next stretch—starting with th

Mid-June used to feel like a turning point for the Orioles. This year, it didn’t. Baltimore dropped six games below .500. and the feeling around the team—shaped by key injuries. shoddy fundamental baseball. and key underperformers—matches what the standings are already showing. With the wild card hovering just out of reach. their position in the season feels less like a surprise and more like a familiar landing spot.

But the part that catches even believers off guard is Gunnar Henderson.

Nearly halfway through the season. the 24-year-old—once the steady center of Baltimore’s best hopes—has become one of the most disappointing pieces. Seeing Henderson “stuck in the grind” has landed as the most unexpected development inside an already underwhelming campaign. The argument isn’t that the Orioles’ season is over, or that Henderson’s season is over. It’s that for Baltimore to get back on track. the star has to find his groove. too—and the concern is whether he can stop riding his emotional lows through every setback.

When Henderson is right, the play looks different. The Orioles shortstop hustle is real. He’s the kind of player who will sprint for an extra bag or dive into the dirt to nab a line drive. Even his reactions tell you how intensely he’s in it: the sharp movements. the helmet coming off. the fist pump as he shakes his blond hair.

But caring isn’t always clean. Just as often, Henderson compounds a mistake with another mistake. In the ninth inning of the series finale against the Padres last weekend. he misfielded a short hop for an error. Then he followed it with a way-too-forced throw that was nowhere near Pete Alonso’s glove at first base.

As brilliant as he can be at shortstop, Henderson makes mistakes in bunches. In 2024, he had 25 errors, and seven of them came in a single week’s span.

This season, the pattern shows up in the moments right after the damage. There have been plenty of thousand-yard stares after a strikeout or after a grounder with runners in scoring position. The impression is that the at-bat doesn’t end when the play ends. Henderson carries it. He has to—because it’s career numbers that reflect the strain.

His batting average is .223 and his OPS is .709 this season. The suggestion isn’t that Henderson lacks ability. It’s that he’s trying too hard to chase the kind of superhuman standard he sets for himself—an internal pressure that can feel invisible to everyone else.

The weight of that burden is hard to measure. The comparisons are drawn to something massive and unknowable, like an iceberg floating under the surface. Henderson has to crack that mental load—or at least make it manageable—before the Orioles can count on him again.

His track record used to do the heavy lifting. Through his first four seasons, Henderson established what looked like a foundation you could trust. Over the last three years, he was a top-10 American League player in offensive WAR each year. Even when last season was framed as a drop-off. the one missing piece wasn’t his aggression—it was his power. Henderson hit 17 home runs last season, and the reduction was tied in part to a shoulder impingement he played through.

That’s why the early struggles didn’t instantly break confidence. Even through April and May struggles—ones that had been seen before from Henderson—judgment was reserved as long as possible because his game had always looked like it was one series away from turning.

Just last week, he reached a milestone that should have landed like a reminder of what he can do. Henderson collected his 100th career home run—quite an achievement for a shortstop so young.

But now Baltimore is reaching what feels like a point of no return. The Orioles are dropping back-to-back series heading into a David-and-Goliath matchup against the L.A. Dodgers. A hot-and-cold lineup feels primed to get mowed down by Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And the pitching side only sharpens the spotlight: how does the Orioles rotation hold up after getting “a ride through” by Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman?.

Henderson can raise the Orioles’ floor and give Baltimore a fighting chance. The problem is that the way he’s playing suggests he may still be carrying too much alone. He can’t take on the emotional weight of the responsibility by himself.

There’s a clear belief underneath the concern: Henderson is never better than when he lets a bad play go and moves on. When errors or strikeouts compound, you can see him digging deeper into the hole—and Baltimore seems to get stuck down there too.

What’s wanted now is simpler than it sounds: a Henderson liberated from the storm clouds that hang over his head after an error. A Henderson who can shake off an 0-fer game and impact the offense the next day.

The Orioles need that switch flipped because the only way this team lifts in the standings may be through an ascension from its star. The argument is blunt—Henderson doesn’t just need to play better; he needs to believe again, flowing through the game instead of fighting it.

The 24-year-old may be the one most under pressure, but the doubt isn’t lonely. It’s shared. Sometimes it feels as if he is the only one who doubts himself, even as Orioles fans keep believing. Once Henderson finally flips the switch. this team could be worth trusting again—just as the season’s next stretch begins.

Gunnar Henderson Baltimore Orioles 2026 season emotional lows wild card race mid-June Padres Pete Alonso Dodgers Yoshinobu Yamamoto Shohei Ohtani Freddie Freeman