Ex-Nationals GM suggests strategic tweaks for Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday amid Orioles slump

The Baltimore Orioles continue to slump despite firing manager Brandon Hyde earlier this month. The Orioles' losing streak extended to seven games after a 5-4 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

The Orioles have been swept in consecutive series and will need to turn things around quickly to avoid a third sweep on the bounce. Former Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden touched on Baltimore's issues in an episode of "Foul Territory."

While Bowden acknowledged the team's pitching issues due to an injury-ravaged rotation, he suggested a few tweaks in the starting lineup for the Orioles' position players to help improve their productivity at the plate. Bowden suggested tweaks for Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday in the episode. He said:

"Now, you ask me what I would do all right, number one. They don't have players in the right position. Gunnar Henderson should be at third, Jackson Holliday should be at short, Westbrook should be at second.

"They should give Mayo first base and Heston Kjerstad left field and let them play every day. You don't need to platoon every single position and have all this 'positional flexibility,' so I think they need a different approach here."

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Gunnar Henderson is the team's everyday shortstop while Jackson Holliday is playing second base for the Orioles.

Former Nationals GM suggests two names to help Orioles break out of the slump

Jim Bowden also gave his opinion on how the Orioles can turn around the season as things are not working despite Hyde's departure. He suggested two names that could guide the slumping players after a disastrous start.

"If I were the GM, I would be hiring outside the organization to bring in a different voice, a different approach, a non-biased opinion, and whether that's a proving guy like Skip Schumacher, who won manager of the year with the Marlins, or whether it's A. J. Pierzynski who brings that edge that the clubhouse could use.

The Orioles will look to end their losing streak when they face the Brewers for the second game of the series on Tuesday.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash