Gunnar Henderson led off on Monday with a strong performance, hitting a 386-foot solo shot off Griffin Canning. On June 29, he reached on a single in the opening inning and scored on a two-run single off the bat of Pete Alonso.

What happened?

Henderson had a three-hit night, extending the O's lead to 7-2. He also singled again in the second and scored on a two-run single.

Why it matters for Gunnar Henderson

Henderson's bat speed is down, and his EV numbers are down, with a strikeout rate up in his fourth full season as a big leaguer. He's hit .225/.282/.351 in 151 at-bats since the beginning of May.

What comes next?

Henderson is desperately trying to fight his way out of this early season malaise, with his third multi-hit game out of his last seven and six home runs over his 30 games. He may be a bit too focused on lifting the ball with a fly ball rate much higher than both his career and the major league average.

Henderson victimized Tigers' starter Framber Valdez for a 368-foot solo shot on a first-pitch curveball in the sixth inning. He also walked and struck out twice in the ballgame, now slashing .230/.282/.438 with 11 homers and 25 RBI.

On June 29, Henderson got the party started in the top half of the first inning with a 397-foot solo shot off of Richard Lovelady. He then capped off the scoring in the contest with an RBI single in the ninth, raising his season slash to .214/.269/.423.

Henderson has delivered nine homers and five stolen bases, but has weighed them down with a .202 batting average. He's been so cold out of the gate that he hasn't raised his batting average above .246 all season.

Henderson has two or more hits in three of his last six games and hasn't struck out multiple times since May 6. Perhaps he's turning a corner, with fantasy managers hoping that's true.

Henderson has struck out in 31.5 percent of his 168 plate appearances this season, an alarming development considering he whiffed just 21 percent of the time in 651 plate appearances last year. His elevated strikeout rate is going to pull down the rest of his offensive profile.

Henderson is batting .201/.262/.429 with nine homers, 19 RBI, and five steals through 36 games. If you're going to have to take a day off at some point, doing so against Max Fried isn't the worst, but Henderson will look to bounce back strong