Gunnar Henderson hitting trend should concern Orioles for two reasons

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Gunnar Henderson hitting trend should concern Orioles for two reasons originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson is too talented to be hitting this badly.

Sooner or later, the 25-year-old is going to turn it around at the plate. Through 37 games, Henderson is hitting .201/.260/.421 with an elevated strikeout percentage of 31.2%.

Those aren't Henderson's typical numbers, and neither are his recent results with two strikes in a count.

Gunnar Henderson with less than two strikes: .387/.449/.839

Gunnar Henderson with two strikes: .076/.131/.152

Dude just completely falls apart with two strikes

— Ben Palmer (@benjpalmer) [URL='https://twitter.com/benjpalmer/status/2052471919006380536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw']May 7, 2026[/URL]

As Just Baseball's Ben Palmer points out, Henderson is struggling mightily with two strikes.

Right now, exactly what the Orioles need are guys who can battle and foul pitches off, and or put the ball in play to create traffic on the basepaths. Henderson has great bat-to-ball skills, but they haven't shown up yet in 2026.

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This could also become a mental challenge for Henderson. With the amount of information hitters receive every day, he likely knows that a .076 batting average with two strikes is not going to cut it.

All it could take is a couple of base knocks to get Henderson back on track.

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