The Baltimore Orioles are going to need a healthy Gunnar Henderson in 2025 in order to make any noise in the competitive American League East. Henderson is currently dealing with an intercostal strain. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde recently provided a promising update on the shortstop, and Henderson offered a similar sentiment while discussing the situation, via Rich Dubroff of baltimorebaseball.com.
“Gunnar Henderson thinks he’ll be ready for Opening Day and plans to play in Grapefruit League games,” Dubroff wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Not only is Henderson planning to be ready for Opening Day, but he expects to be able to play in more Grapefruit League contests before spring training comes to an end. Henderson’s update is of the utmost importance for an Orioles ball club with aspirations of seriously contending in 2025.
Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson hoping to be ready for Opening Day
Henderson, a 23-year-old, earned the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2023 before making his first All-Star game in 2024. He also finished fourth in AL MVP voting after the ’24 campaign. He crushed 37 home runs and 31 doubles while slashing .281/.364/.529/.893 last year. Henderson added 21 stolen bases as well.
There is no denying the fact that Gunnar Henderson has established himself as one of the best players in the entire sport. He has continued to improve in his brief big league career up to this point, and there is reason to believe that Henderson can take another step forward during the upcoming 2025 campaign.
The Orioles star projects to be an AL MVP candidate once again. He could end up being a finalist in 2025. In fact, Henderson may even be able to win the award as long as he can avoid injury trouble.
At the moment, Henderson is focused on getting healthy. He could return in time to play in more spring training games barring any setbacks.
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