Adley Rutschman is no longer surprised by the things Gunnar Henderson does on a baseball field.
He said Henderson’s wide-ranging feats — long home runs at the plate, diving plays at shortstop, running wild on the bases — are “always impressive,” but Rutschman knows Henderson too well to be taken aback. The two young stars, both former No. 1 overall prospects, were the Orioles’ first two picks in the 2019 draft and progressed through the minor leagues together.
“You’re never not going to be impressed,” Rutschman said. “But I feel like every guy in this locker room knows what he’s capable of because we’re around him so much. But it’s still cool to see.”
Thursday is the one-year anniversary of Henderson’s MLB debut when Baltimore promoted the 21-year-old shortstop for the stretch run.
The occasion doesn’t mark the Orioles’ turnaround like Rutschman’s, as the club is 150-105 since the star catcher made his debut last May, but Henderson has been similarly valuable.
Wednesday’s 10-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox was the 156th game of Henderson’s career. In that time, he’s been worth 5.5 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference. Entering Wednesday, his 4.6 WAR so far this season is the third most by a rookie in Orioles history, behind Rutschman’s 5.2 last season and Cal Ripken Jr.’s 4.7 in 1982.
In his first 625 plate appearances, he’s slashing .253/.334/.470 — good for an .804 OPS — with 28 doubles, seven triples, 26 home runs, 83 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. The impressive numbers have been even better this summer as Henderson broke out of his early season slump to re-emerge as the American League Rookie of the Year front-runner.
“He just seems more comfortable,” Rutschman said. “I think he’s got his routine down, knows what he wants to do and he’s got a good plan.”
It’s been a year since Henderson first donned an Orioles uniform in a big league game. Here are 10 of his best moments, ranked, in the 365 days since.
10. Little League home run
Henderson opened his major league career strong, posting a .929 OPS in his first 20 games. None were better than his performance last September against the Washington Nationals.
Henderson went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, a double and a triple that ended with him crossing home plate thanks to an error for a Little League home run.
9. Showing off his speed
It wouldn’t be a true ranking to show Henderson’s talent without a base running highlight.
Manager Brandon Hyde has often praised his team’s base running this season, and perhaps no one on the Orioles is more aggressive on the bases than Henderson. That was most evident during Baltimore’s biggest win of the season — a 4-3 extra-inning victory to give the Orioles sole possession of first place in the American League East for the first time after the All-Star break since 2016 — when Henderson turned a ground ball to third base into a triple.
The scorcher the other way tipped off Rays third baseman Taylor Walls’ glove, allowing Henderson to advance to second. He then took advantage of the Rays’ lollygagging — left fielder Randy Arozarena’s nonchalant throw and Walls’ failure to cover the bag — to take third for a triple.
8. Another go-ahead homer
Henderson has hit three go-ahead home runs late in games to lead the Orioles to victory this season. His two-run shot in the eighth inning last week against the Colorado Rockies gave Baltimore another come-from-behind victory, even though the moment was diminished by Félix Bautista’s elbow injury in the ninth.
Henderson ranks second on the team in home runs and is on pace to hit 27 this season.
7. Flashing the leather
A big reason Henderson was billed as a potential superstar was his plus defense on the left side of the infield. This summer, he’s grown into a consistent defender who is also capable of making the occasional web gem. But it was in his second game last season that Baltimore fans first got to see Henderson flash the leather in an Orioles uniform.
Playing in Cleveland, Henderson made two highlight-reel plays — a crisp 6-3 double play and a diving stop in the hole — in the Orioles’ 3-0 win.
6. First game-winning hit
In his first game against the Boston Red Sox, Henderson delivered the biggest hit of his nascent career at the time. With the Orioles down one run in the sixth, Henderson hit a two-run single en route to a 3-2 victory on Sept. 10.
In his career entering Wednesday, Henderson is slashing .295/.384/.580 — good for a .964 OPS — with runners in scoring position.
5. A big June
After spending much of the first six weeks of the 2023 season slumping, Henderson entered June with a batting average barely north of .200. He then caught fire for perhaps the best month of an Orioles hitter this season to win the AL Rookie of the Month Award after hitting .320 with a .994 OPS. He also won the AL’s Player of the Week Award for his performance in the first week of June.
The month contained some of Henderson’s most clutch moments, including late game-winning homers against the Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants on the same road trip. But neither of those were his most impressive long ball of the month.
4. The 462-foot Eutaw Street home run
Henderson dropped jaws on June 11 with his mammoth blast against the Kansas City Royals.
He stayed back on a low-and-in slider from Royals reliever Jackson Kowar and clobbered it 113.8 mph onto Eutaw Street. The projected distance of 462 feet, according to Statcast tracking data, made the long ball the farthest ever hit onto Eutaw Street.
The big fly is tied for the eighth-farthest in Orioles history. The club has 10 home runs that have traveled farther than 435 feet this season, and Henderson has hit four of them.
3. Historic start in the Bronx
A week after turning 22 in early July, Henderson had one of the best starts to a game in franchise history.
Through four innings against the Yankees in New York, Henderson was 4-for-4 with two home runs to propel the Orioles to a 14-1 win. With a hit in each of the game’s first four frames and two homers, he became just the second major leaguer to do so since 1984. The only other Oriole to have four hits before the fifth inning was Cedric Mullins in 2021.
It was the first four-hit game of his career. It wouldn’t be his last.
2. The debut
Henderson said the best part of his debut was “spending that time with family,” remembering the years of “hard work” it took for him to reach the show. It didn’t take him long to show why he belonged.
In his second career big league at-bat, Henderson crushed a 2-2 slider from Cleveland Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie 429 feet for a home run to right-center field to lead Baltimore to a 4-0 win. His helmet came off on his fierce swing and he rounded the bases without one.
He’s hit 25 home runs since, and he knows he’s got many more to go.
“The work keeps continuing,” Henderson said. “I’m looking forward to doing that and having a long career.”
1. Near-cycle in Oakland
The best game of Henderson’s career also sparked a friendly debate among his teammates and Baltimore fans.
He was a single away from recording the eighth cycle in Orioles history when he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning against the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 18. He roped a 103.6 mph double down the right field line and chose to sprint to second for his fourth extra-base hit — two doubles, a triple and a home run — rather than remain at first for the cycle.
He received playful jeers in the dugout from most of his teammates about the controversial decision, although a few did defend him.
“Gunnar plays the game at one speed, and that’s hard,” Hyde said. “And that’s the right way.”
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