In a field loaded with talented shortstops, the O's Gunnar Henderson is named No. 1

Major League Baseball’s best shortstop, right now, is the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson. So says MLB Network during its Top Ten Right Now series that has been airing in recent days.

Well not everyone at the network feels that way but the “shredder” does which is MLB Network’s model that I presume takes all the stats and data and provides a formula for ranking the players.

It’s quite an honor when you consider who Henderson is up against.

Here is their official top 10:

1) Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles.

2) Corey Seager, Texas Rangers.

3) Francisco Lindor, New York Mets.

4) Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals.

5) Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers.

6) Dansby Swanson, Chicago Cubs.

7) Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins.

8) Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds.

9) Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants.

10) Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies.

Man that is a list of good players. The No. 9 guy Adames got a $182 million dollar contract this winter. Turner, at No. 10, has a career .829 OPS and signed with the Phillies for $300 million last winter.

How about Witt at No. 4?

Heck, he was second in the American League MVP voting but only fourth here? He hit .332 with an OPS of .977 to go with 125 runs, 109 RBIs and 211 hits. He was an All-Star, a Silver Slugger and won a Gold Glove. He stole 31 bases.

Fourth? You sure about that?

I’d have a hard time ranking him anywhere but first if the standard is “best right now.”

The shredder is a tough grader.

On the show on the shortstop top ten, host Brian Kenny and analyst Mark DeRosa both had Witt at No. 1. Kenny ranked Henderson second and DeRosa had him fourth after Witt, Lindor and Seager.

“He runs the bags with his hair on fire, he plays [defense], he kind of sets the tone for what the Orioles are about. Phenomenal baseball player,” DeRosa said.

Witt’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) via FanGraph’s.com for 2024 of 10.4 was the fifth-highest by a shortstop since 1900. It was behind only Honus Wagner from 1908 of 11.8, Lou Boudreau from 1948 at 10.9, Wagner again at 10.8 from 1905, and the Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. with a mark of 10.6 in 1991 when he won his second MVP award.

Best WAR numbers via FanGraphs.com for MLB shortstops in 2024:

10.4 – Bobby Witt Jr.
8.1 – Gunnar Henderson
7.8 – Francisco Lindor
6.5 – Elly De La Cruz

Henderson, via baseball-reference.com, had 9.1 WAR and Witt was at 9.4.

This is the 15^th season MLB Network has aired this top 10 series. The rankings, per a Network press release, considers player performance over multiple seasons, offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced Statcast data and traditional numbers, and analysis by the MLB Network research team.

In 2024, Henderson improved almost all his numbers from the previous season. He hit .281/.364/.529/.893 as his OPS+ increased from 125 in 2023 to 159. He produced 31 doubles, seven triples, 37 homers and 92 RBIs.

Going back to those WAR numbers, he was the third-best position player in baseball-reference WAR and fifth via FanGraphs.

Henderson was eighth in the 2023 AL MVP and fourth last year behind only Aaron Judge, Witt and Juan Soto. He has won the Most Valuable Oriole award the past two seasons.

He’s the best player on the team right now, you probably would get little argument on that. And per the MLB Network show, tops a great list of talented shortstops in the sport right now.

By the way, Adley Rutschman was No. 2 on their list of the top 10 catchers.

Note from Steve: Just want to say thanks to everyone who reached out on Friday. I heard from so many friends, commenters here and fans via social media after my blog announcing that my time here is soon coming to an end. An overwhelming response that was just so heartwarming and nice, so thanks for that. 

I'll be posting O's stories through the end of the month and I look forward to a few more days together with the fans and readers here.