Checking into 2026 Orioles’ injuries; New area to open in upper left-field stands

Near the end of the Orioles’ media session reviewing the 2026 season, there was a question about Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson’s playing through a right wrist injury.

After president of baseball operations Mike Elias lauded Henderson, who missed only three games during the season, he talked again about an issue that’s hurt the team in 2025 and 2026.

“We’ve been getting killed by injuries the last couple of years, it’s no secret,” Elias said on Monday.

“We don’t make an excuse about it, and it’s a very hard thing to control. But we’re going to do whatever we can within our control to get better results on that front going forward.”

According to Spotrac, the Orioles lost a cumulative 2,007 days to the injured list, eighth most in Major League Baseball. Twenty-five players had 33 stints on the IL, both among the league leaders.

It was actually an improvement from 2025 when they lost 2,119 days to the IL, with 29 players needing 39 stints on the injured list.

That’s still far too many injuries, but how well did the Orioles manage with those absences?

I’d argue that at some positions they were more prepared to withstand injuries in 2026 than they were in 2025.

The view here is that injuries weren’t the main issue. Underperformance was.

Take Henderson, who plays incredibly hard and is resistant to benching. He finished with a .226 average and .715 OPS, both career lows.

There wasn’t a single month when Henderson stood out, despite many of us, including me, thinking that he was on the verge of breaking out.

His best month was August when he hit .245 with an .824 OPS. He had four home runs and 10 RBIs then. If he’d had six months like that, it still wouldn’t have been a good season for him.

Henderson hit nine homers and drove in 19 runs in the 31 games from Opening Day to April 30^th, but he hit only .214 with a .764 OPS.

Several of the Orioles’ key position players were healthy for the entire season. First baseman Pete Alonso played in each of the 161 games, centerfielder Colton Cowser, who played in only 92 games due to two IL stints in 2025, played in 142, and third baseman Coby Mayo was in 132.

Outfielder Leody Taveras played in 139 games, and amazingly drove in 54 runs, just six fewer than Henderson.

The biggest absence was third baseman Jordan Westburg, who had Tommy John surgery in May after missing spring training with an oblique injury.

Due to a pre-spring training trade with Arizona, the Orioles were able to plug Westburg’s hole with Mayo and Blaze Alexander, who played everywhere but first base, catcher and pitcher.

When Alexander missed six weeks with a fractured left hand, Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand filled in nicely.

With Alexander, Mayo and Westburg all healthy, the Orioles could be faced with an interesting dilemma of where to find playing time for each of them.

Second baseman Jackson Holliday’s season started late due to right wrist surgery and ended early because of left wrist surgery. Holliday played in 98 games and hit just .230 with seven homers, 30 RBIs and .640 OPS.

When Holliday was out, Alexander got time at second as did Jeremiah Jackson, who hit just .217 with a .611 OPS in 102 games.

Catcher Samuel Basallo missed a month with a left shoulder injury and his season ended four games early because of a concussion.

Basallo played in 112 games. Before Adley Rutschman’s trade to Boston on August 3^rd, he had three stints on the injured list.

The Orioles were left without adequate replacements for Basallo and Rutschman. They used five other catchers — Sam Huff, Chadwick Tromp, Jake Rogers, Yohel Pozo and Carlos Narváez.

Rogers played in just three games before he went to the Red Sox along with Rutschman. Narváez, who came to the Orioles in the trade, hit only .104 (8-for-77).

Over the winter, the Orioles will have to address the backup catcher’s role. Ethan Anderson showed great promise at Double-A Chesapeake, but he’ll need more seasoning before coming to Baltimore.

Outfielders Dylan Beavers (oblique strain) and Tyler O’Neill (concussion, right shoulder) were on the IL, but neither had standout numbers when playing.

Beavers hit .228 with a .680 OPS, nine home runs and 44 RBIs in 104 games. O’Neill played in 85 games, hitting .212 with 10 homers, 23 RBIs and a .677 OPS.

Combined with Taveras (.219 with a .633 OPS) and Cowser (.226 with a .687 OPS), Oriole outfielders lagged.

Taylor Ward, who was traded to Seattle on August 3^rd, was a disappointment with a .246 average, .730 OPS, just seven homers and 30 RBIs.

Oriole starting pitchers were relatively healthy. They did lose Zach Eflin after just one start. Eflin had Tommy John surgery in April.

Eflin was replaced by Brandon Young, who had an excellent season (9-6, 3.56). Shane Baz, who had a deceiving 6-15 record, made each of his 31 starts. Trevor Rogers made 30 starts and missed time only for illness. Kyle Bradish started 29 times before missing his final two starts with a sports hernia.

Chris Bassitt did miss more than two months due to a back injury that required surgery.

The Orioles’ bullpen missed closer Ryan Helsley, whose elbow injuries limited him to only 14 appearances. Félix Bautista squeezed just two late-season outings in after rehabbing from right shoulder and labrum injuries.

Keegan Akin also had Tommy John surgery, and Andrew Kittredge missed the first four weeks of the season with right shoulder inflammation. Grant Wolfram missed 15 days with a back injury.

Kittredge and Wolfram finished the season healthy. Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia were healthy throughout the season, and the injuries allowed Alex Hoppe, Anthony Nunez, Cam Sanders and Josh Walker make a case they should be in the 2027 bullpen.

The Orioles did a decent job finding a deeper starting staff, bullpen and some useful infielders to withstand injuries. They failed to field an adequate outfield, and injuries or not, need a far better one to contend in 2027.

Camden Yards left-field upgrade: If you’ve stared at empty stands in left field in recent seasons, and wondered if the Orioles would do something about filling that emptiness, you weren’t alone.

Over the offseason, the Orioles will build a new area in left.

“Guests will be able to enjoy a vibrant social atmosphere with drink rails, standing room viewing areas, spacious gathering zones with tables and chairs, a central bar, diverse concession offerings, and televisions positioned throughout the space to follow every pitch,” the team announced.

“The space, set to open at the start of next season will be accessible to all ticketed fans. On non-game days, this area will be an additional space available to be rented for private events.”

About 2,000 seats will be removed and the seating capacity will drop to 40,234.

During the season, the Orioles had only one crowd over 40,000, and that was on Opening Day.

The Orioles say the new seating area will be ready for Opening Day, which is set for March 29^th.

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