Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson: ‘My number 1 goal is to make a strong playoff push’

In his first two complete seasons, Gunnar Henderson has won American League Rookie of the Year, a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and last year was voted the starting shortstop for the American League in the All-Star Game. He also finished fourth in the Most Valuable Player voting.

But Henderson has fallen short of an important objective — to play for a team that’s made a deep playoff run. In his two seasons, the Orioles have lost five straight postseason games. They were overmatched by Texas two years ago, and scored one run in two games against Kansas City last season.

“That’s my number one goal, and it’s been my number one goal since I’ve been up in the big leagues is to make a strong playoff push,” Henderson said on January 31^st at the Birdland Caravan stop at PBR Baltimore. “It stinks that we really haven’t done that. That’s something that I’m really looking forward to going through this year is getting over that hump and making a strong push.”

Henderson had an outstanding season, with a 9.1 WAR (Wins Above Replacement). He hit .281 with an .893 OPS, 37 home runs, 92 RBIs, but he was hitless in seven at-bats in the Orioles’ two losses to the Royals in the Wild Card Series.

“Every ongoing year you get that experience,” Henderson said. “Obviously, it hasn’t been great experience because we haven’t gone very far. Any experience is good, especially with the young guys we have on the team and being able to add a couple of guys who’ve been through it a lot is only going to help us.”

The Orioles have added two pitchers — 41-year-old starter Charlie Morton and 35-year-old reliever Andrew Kittredge, who’ve played in the World Series.

Four others they’ve signed — outfielders Dylan Carlson (6) , Ramón Laureano (11), Tyler O’Neill (4) and catcher Gary Sánchez (33) — have played in a combined 54 postseason games.

Tomoyuki Sugano has pitched in the World Baseball Classic and big games in Japanese baseball.

There will be new names for fans to get to know, and optimism is evident among the younger players.

“I’m feeling really good about it,” outfielder Colton Cowser said. “This year, going into it, I think we’re going to have tons of people step up. I’m looking forward to getting that going down in spring training. I really do like our roster.”

Cowser was a Gold Glove finalist in left field in 2024. This season he will have to adjust to a closer left-field wall at Camden Yards.

“It was one of those situations where you kind of knew when a ball was going to get out in that ballpark,” he said. “There was more room to cover, but it kind of made it easier to play because you knew you were never going to run into the wall. You kind of developed a sense for it when a ball was hit off the bat whether or not it was getting out.

“This year, it’s going to be new challenges. There’s different nooks and crannies in the wall now, and I know that the bullpen is more extended over closer towards direct left. There’s more balls hit over there. It’s going to result in challenges to see how it goes.”

The Orioles will be without last year’s ace, Corbin Burnes, who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the their top home run hitter, Anthony Santander, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“Everyone has a different personality in the clubhouse,” Cowser said. “That’s what makes clubhouse chemistry great is everyone brings something different. You mentioned Tony going to the Blue Jays. We’re certainly going to miss him in the clubhouse.

“I think it’s a situation where I’m looking forward to getting to know some of the newer guys, and I think they’re going to present their own personalities. I think we’re all going to bond really well together.”

Projections about the Orioles vary. This week, PECOTA calculated they’d win 89 games,. FanGraphs is less optimistic, forecasting 83 wins. Henderson isn’t concerned about projections.

“We obviously enjoy being atop,” Henderson said. “We’ve got to go out there and prove it again this year. Each year is different, so you’ve got to go out there and continue to work hard.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.