Would Orioles be better wih Henderson at 3rd, Holliday at short? | MAILBAG

Question: A couple of years back, Gunanr Henderson played third base and he was a very good hitter. I think he is much better at third than shortstop, where he makes  a lot of errors. Maybe his hitting will return. Shortstop takes on a lot of responsibilities and I think it hurts his hitting capabilities. Then put Holiday at shortstop. What do you think? From: Rob Sablowski

Answer: Rob, I got a similar question from Tony T in Eagle, Colorado. In 2024, Henderson played 157 games at shortstop, hit 37 home runs, drove in 92 runs and hit .281 with an .893 OPS.

Those numbers are really good, and while he’s not on track for numbers close to that, in 2023 when he split his time between third and short, he was hitting .201 in his first 50 games. He went on to have an excellent final four months and won Rookie of the Year.

That’s the kind of track record he has, and I don’t think moving him to third will make him a better player and the Orioles a better team.

I think Henderson’s play at short will improve with Holliday at second, and the Orioles are better with Henderson at short and Holliday at second than moving both.

Question: Can you tell me what Taylor Ward is doing at the plate?? He looks at strike after strike without a swing, prefers to take a walk, still leads the league in doubles somehow, has hit two home runs when he hit 36 last season, even though he gets on base a lot does not score because we can’t hit behind him, so what’s his game besides being non-productive? From: Jim Scarborough

Answer: Jim, I know many fans would love to see Ward hit more home runs, and the Orioles expected him to, but he is very productive. Entering Wednesday’s game, Ward had a 1.5 WAR (Wins Above Replacement), and that’s the highest on the club.

His batting eye has improved, and his OPS is roughly where it was last year (.799 in 2026, versus .792 in 2025 when he struck out 175 times.),

Let’s revisit this question at the All-Star break, but I think Ward has been a great contributor.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.