Gunnar Henderson On Baltimore Orioles’ Rough Start To The Season: ‘It’s Hard’

Gunnar Henderson knows the Baltimore Orioles are going through a rough season.

The 23-year-old star has started out his MLB career with a bang, leading the Orioles to back-to-back playoff appearances in his first full two seasons in the league. During that time over the past two years, Baltimore has won a division title and Henderson has emerged as one of the league’s top players, clinching an All-Star bid and finishing No. 4 in AL MVP voting last season.

However, the bottom has fallen out this season, with the Orioles starting out the season 16-32, the second-worst mark in the American League and the third-worst in the majors.

The rough start to the season resulted in the firing of manager Brandon Hyde and it was only recently that the Orioles were able to snap their eight-game losing streak.

“I’ve answered the questions about the manager situation, but yeah, hate it for him and his family,” says Henderson when asked in a one-on-one interview about Hyde’s firing. “Felt like, wish we could have played better for him. But I know he’s a great guy and a great manager, so I know he’ll find a job somewhere.”

The Orioles rank near the bottom in just about every major category this season, ranking in the bottom 10 for batting average, runs, hits and RBI’s. As far as pitching is concerned, Baltimore is even worse, ranking in the bottom 10 in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings and home runs allowed per nine innings.

Entering Thursday’s series opener against the Boston Red Sox, the Orioles are 16-32 and 13 games behind the New York Yankees for the AL East lead. They’re 10 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final wild card spot in the American League.

They entered the season with World Series expectations, with all-time great Alex Rodriguez in particular mentioning them as a potential 100-win team with World Series potential before the season started.

However, the Orioles have been unable to put that on display this season, with a shaky pitching staff – injuries to Kyle Brandish and Grayson Rodriguez haven’t helped – being arguably their biggest problem in the early parts of the year.

The Orioles have won just three of their 16 series so far this season.

“Yeah, you’re not going to get all those games back in one day,” says Henderson of the Orioles’ rough start to the season. “So just gotta take it one day at a time. Go 1-0 each each day, that’s all you can do really, and just treat it one day at a time for the rest of the year and see what happens at the end of the year.”

Gunnar Henderson Says Playoffs Are Still Goal For Orioles

Henderson himself hasn’t been immune to the struggles that the rest of the team is experiencing. The shortstop phenom has produced a .257/.307/.455 batting line this season, which is an obvious decline from the .281/.364/.529 batting line he produced during the 2024 season.

He calls this season a “learning experience” through all of the struggles – the first time in his MLB career that Henderson has gone through a stretch like this.

“Biggest thing is just embrace the ups and downs of the season,” says Henderson. “It’s hard. It’s very hard to do in time. I’m still still learning that, but just got to embrace the ups and downs of it. It’s 162 games, and it’s a lot of baseball throughout the year, and you just gotta enjoy it and just appreciate being at where you’re at.”

Henderson still outlines the playoffs as the objective for this season, with the Orioles having just a 2.2% probability of making it to the playoffs. That’s the second-lowest percentage of any American League team.

“Yeah, exactly,” Henderson says when asked if the playoffs are still the objective. “Just like I said, one day at a time. Just gotta go out there and do what you can to help the team win day in and day out, and just try to win one game at a time and see what happens.”

Gunnar Henderson Using VKYTRY Insoles This Season For ‘Stability’

One of the ways that Henderson is looking to improve stability when it comes to his batting stance is by partnering with VKTRY insoles. The Orioles star says he started using VKTRY during spring training and has noticed a major difference in the “stability” the insoles provide.

“Yeah, obviously, stability is a huge thing for me,” says Henderson. “Being on the dirt and in the box, that’s the No. 1 thing is because power comes from my legs, and being able to have great stability, along with getting some power out of the ground, is huge for me, and I feel like it’s been great for me since.”

The 23-year-old says the insoles help him be “balanced and on top.”

“I saw some of their stuff scrolling across social media, and was really intrigued by the science behind it, and just kind of the power that comes from the ground up,” says Henderson of VKTRY. “When they came with the offer, I was really excited to join the team.”