Baltimore Orioles Star Ranked in ‘MVP-Level Hitters’ Tier for 2024 Season

One Baltimore Orioles hitters ranks among the best in baseball for the 2024 season.

Sep 4, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) swings through a third inning single against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Over the last few weeks, the Baltimore Orioles offense has struggled to consistently produce, becoming more and more troublesome.

If the team is unable to get the job done at the plate, it will put even more pressure on what was already a shaky pitching staff. For a team that has performed so well throughout the 2024 season, they are unraveling at the wrong time.

However, things can quickly turn around over the last two weeks heading into the postseason with one hot streak. One player that the Orioles are hoping can lead the resurgence is shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

Earlier in the campaign, he was a legitimate threat for the MVP award along with New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.

While his production is no longer on their level, he has been highlighted by Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report as being one of the best hitters in the game in 2024.

Henderson landed in the ‘MVP-Level Hitters’ tier, coming in at No. 8 overall. Joining him in that tier is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros, Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves, Witt, Juan Soto of the Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Judge was in a tier all by himself atop the rankings.

“Even if Henderson has come back down to Earth a bit in the second half, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year has set a new single-season franchise record for home runs by a shortstop at 36, surpassing Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. He's likely headed for a top-five finish in AL MVP voting,” Kelly wrote of the Baltimore star.

Henderson continues to move up the all-time American League single-season home run list as he blasted his 37th of the year over the weekend against the Detroit Tigers.

Alex Rodriguez is the only shortstop to ever surpass 40 in the AL and holds the record with 57. Rico Petrocelli is the only other player at the position to even reach that plateau.

The former top prospect certainly has a chance to become only the third player at the position to record at least 40 home runs this season. Overall, he has recorded a slash line of .282/.367/.543 with 87 RBI as a bonafide star atop the order or batting in the 3 and 4 hole.