Henderson thinks hard lessons of ’25 will help in ’26: ‘You learn from everything that goes on in the season’

In 2024, Gunnar Henderson won his second straight Most Valuable Oriole award and seemed likely to make it three straight, at least until Trevor Rogers’ dynamic three months on the mound changed the minds of many voters.

Henderson’s 2025 season was considered a disappointment. That’s despite playing shortstop, the most difficult infield position, and committing only one error in his last 93 games of the season.

Henderson was terrific in 2024, finishing fourth in the American League’s Most Valuable Player voting, hitting 37 home runs, driving in 92 runs, batting .281 with an .893 OPS.

In 2025, he hit .274 with a .787 OPS, but the power numbers were down, way down. His home run total dropped from 37 to 17 and he didn’t homer for 30 games. Henderson hit his 16^th home run on August 24^th and didn’t hit his 17^th until the final game of the season.

“Learn from what went wrong in the season,” Henderson said during the last weekend of the season at Yankee Stadium. “But like, if you don’t, then what’d you go through it for? I feel like that’s the biggest thing, using these experiences to take them into next year. Feel like take that as a team purpose and as a player purpose. You learn from everything that goes on in the season. That’s why experience is huge and feel like everybody’s going to be better for it.”

Henderson committed eight errors, 17 fewer than the year before, but strangely his defensive WAR (Wins Above Replacement) fell. In 2024, when Henderson led the American League with 25 errors, his dWAR was 1.5. This year, it was .7.

Henderson also had a 5.4 WAR overall, the 10^th highest for an American League position player.

After missing the first seven games of the season because of a ribcage muscle strain, Henderson played every game but one.

His 30 stolen bases were tied for ninth in the American League, and he was thrown out just five times. From August 8^th to the end of the season, he was successful in 16 of 17. At 24, he’s the youngest Oriole to steal 30.

“Felt like it’s just a matter of getting out there, get comfortable,” he said. “Felt like just being free to, I guess, have the green light is a big thing and just being able to go and kind of find a good pitch and feel comfortable out there.”

When asked if his stolen base total made up for the lack of power, he laughed: “I hope so.”

In 2021, Cedric Mullins became the first Orioles to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases. Perhaps a season like that is in Henderson’s future.

“Yeah, I mean, it was more just getting comfortable out there,” Henderson said. “I feel like it’s always been, like through the minor leagues, it’s been a part of my game. It was just a matter of being able to get out there and, I guess, fail aggressively to then learn from it and get better at it each and every game. I feel like that’s something that I’ve taken to heart and something that I feel like can be a part of my game.”

Henderson thought Rogers deserved to be voted Most Valuable Oriole.

“I mean, he’s been unbelievable,” Henderson said. “It’s been unreal playing behind him. He’s throwing the ball exceptionally well. So, yeah, it’s just it’s hard to describe because just the way his story was when he got traded over here to then being able to put up a season like this, that’s just hats off to him and just the mental strength that he has to be able to go out there and do that. I look forward to him being back here next year and just continuing this because he’s a dog.”

Henderson thinks the return of Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells in the final weeks of the season will mean good things for the rotation and team in 2026.

“I mean, just a matter of keeping them healthy,” Henderson said. “They’ve proven it before, and it’s just matter of staying healthy and being able to get the innings in. I feel like they do that, and we’ll be in a great spot.”

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