{"id":82587,"date":"2025-08-24T10:51:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=82587"},"modified":"2025-08-24T10:51:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:51:26","slug":"report-gunnar-hendersons-power-outage-due-to-orioles-stars-inability-to-hit-these-pitches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=82587","title":{"rendered":"Report: Gunnar Henderson\u2019s power outage due to Orioles star\u2019s inability to hit these pitches"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson has gone from breaking-ball masher to breaking-ball victim, and pitchers are exploiting it.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Baltimore Orioles v Houston Astros | Tim Warner\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The Baltimore Orioles have seen Gunnar Henderson go from budding superstar to one of the faces of the game in a hurry. But in 2025, their shortstop is living out his own version of\u00a0Trouble with the Curve<\/em>, and no, this one doesn\u2019t star Clint Eastwood.<\/p>\n

Henderson\u2019s bugaboo this year? Breaking pitches. And it hasn\u2019t been subtle.<\/p>\n

Against sliders, he\u2019s striking out 24.6 percent. Against curveballs? A jaw-dropping 42.6 percent. That\u2019s right, if you spin one up there, nearly half the time Henderson is walking back to the dugout.<\/p>\n

Gunnar Henderson\u2019s sudden collapse against curveballs is fueling Orioles\u2019 offensive woes<\/h2>\n

When pitchers challenge\u00a0Henderson with anything straight, it\u2019s a completely different story.\u00a0Fastballs? He\u2019s hitting .338 as of August 22. Even against sliders (.241) and changeups (.281), he\u2019s holding his own. But against the curveball, his batting average has cratered to .114, with only one lone home run to show for it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a wild departure from last year, when Henderson was actually thriving on breaking stuff. In 2024, he hit .313 against curveballs while only posting .242 against fastballs. Even more telling, he crushed\u00a019 homers off breaking balls a season ago. This year, he\u2019s got just five.<\/p>\n

Pitchers have clearly noticed. Opponents are feeding him breaking balls at a higher clip, up to 28.4 percent of his total pitches seen compared to 25.9 last season. They\u2019ve figured out that the quickest way to neutralize one of baseball\u2019s brightest young stars is to make him chase the spin.<\/p>\n

For the Orioles, it\u2019s become a fascinating subplot in a season that\u2019s taken a shocking turn toward mediocrity. Henderson remains dangerous. Few hitters punish mistakes like he does, and he\u2019s more than capable of adjusting. But until he proves he can consistently handle the breaking ball again, pitchers are going to keep hammering away at that weakness.<\/p>\n

Baltimore fans\u00a0don\u2019t want to see their MVP candidate\u00a0become a real-life sequel to\u00a0Trouble with the Curve. The Orioles need him to flip the script, rediscover that knack for crushing breaking stuff, and bring back the version of Henderson who made pitchers pay for trying to get cute.<\/p>\n

Should he make the adjustment, the\u00a0Orioles\u2019 lineup won\u2019t just be good; it\u2019ll be scary again in no time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson has gone from breaking-ball masher to breaking-ball victim, and pitchers are exploiting it. 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