When the Orioles introduced their prime prospect as much as the majors, it wasn’t the primary time they promoted Gunnar Henderson right into a playoff push.
Last yr, Henderson joined Double-A Bowie for the ultimate week of the yr to shut out his first full season in skilled baseball. He had his struggles, hanging out in half his plate appearances between the common and postseason however homering in a playoff recreation. That latter hinted at what was coming. Henderson discovered from the expertise and dominated in his return to Double-A in 2022, starting a climb that has reached Baltimore to assist the Orioles’ stunning playoff bid.
“Even though it’s a year ago, you look at him physically, and you see he looks like a man now,” stated Orioles co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, who was Bowie’s hitting coach final season. “He looks like he belongs in the big leagues, where last year you said, ‘OK, maybe he needs another year in Triple-A.’ But to see his development in less than a year is so impressive, and the confidence that he has coming up here, you kind of forget that he’s only been here for a few weeks right now.”
Henderson’s turnaround at Double-A exhibits the advantages this time within the majors, at the same time as Baltimore’s playoff probabilities dwindle, could have for him in 2023, when he’ll have a month of massive league expertise underneath his belt.
As a 20-year-old, Henderson hit .312 with an OPS of 1.025 again with Bowie this spring to earn a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk. He credited that success to having confidence in his potential to deal with the extent after already seeing it the yr earlier than. Executive vice chairman and common supervisor Mike Elias stated he thinks that kind of expertise can profit a participant.
“I am a big believer in getting a little taste of a level, kind of getting your nose punched, and then going home for the winter and working on the things that you would need to do to get back to that level, and then going back and repeating it and having a little bit of what I would call, like, sophomore swagger to you,” Elias stated. “I think that’s a case in point, and he basically proved that he shouldn’t be in Double-A with his play there this year.”
At a brand new affiliate, Henderson posted a .288 batting common with an .894 OPS with Norfolk. There, he turned 21, hit for the cycle, performed within the MLB All-Star Futures Game and have become the sport’s No. 1 prospect earlier than a promotion to Baltimore, the place he homered in his second profession at-bat. He’s hitting .293/.356/.439 within the majors and delivered a game-winning hit in one of many Orioles’ two victories this week.
“That experience [at Bowie] helped me a lot, being able to go into a playoff push, especially pro ball,” Henderson stated. “That was my first experience in that, and being able to do that and come up here and have an idea of what mindset you need to be in and just how to help the team win in any situation, I feel like that’s been a really big help.”
Fuller famous how a lot smoother Henderson’s left-handed swing has grow to be. They first labored collectively on the Orioles’ alternate coaching web site after the pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season, which was alleged to be Henderson’s first full marketing campaign in professional ball after he was Baltimore’s second-round draft decide in 2019. At the alternate web site — additionally in Bowie — Henderson was a youngster dealing with the group’s prime pitching prospects and arms shuttling between the camp and the majors. Challenged because the youngest participant there, he settled in and confirmed his potential.
Fuller described Henderson’s hand movement early in his profession as “pushy,” however he’s been capable of clear that as much as produce a swing that ranges out and stays by means of the strike zone, permitting Henderson to drive balls the opposite means even when he’s late and pull them with effectiveness if he’s early.
“I’m just impressed with, one, how athletic he is,” supervisor Brandon Hyde stated. “For that size, to have that speed, arm strength, just how his feet work, like the whole thing has been really impressive, and the bat speeds different than what I’ve seen in the past, the strength and the bat speed, the way he can really cover and just put really good swings out there. You feel like when he’s up there, he’s got a chance to do some damage.”
Adley Rutschman, who preceded Henderson not solely within the 2019 draft but additionally because the Orioles’ and baseball’s prime prospect, made a fast impression on Hyde with the standard of his at-bats, and Hyde stated Henderson has finished the identical. His seems at Henderson got here sparingly, largely at mini-camps and the occasional spring coaching recreation, however in getting to look at him every day previously couple of weeks, Hyde has seen an identical method, the identical one Henderson confirmed within the minors.
“You never know how it translates into the big leagues, honestly,” Hyde stated. “Sometimes, the second can get somewhat too huge for younger gamers. They attempt to perform a little an excessive amount of, and he’s very, very constant, actually. He’s placing good swings on strikes. He’s taking shut pitches.
“For them going through this [playoff atmosphere] this year, it’s going to be huge for them going forward. It’s gonna be fun to watch them grow up.”
Fuller can relate, being in his first yr as a serious league hitting coach and feeling he’s discovered a lot all through the season. He believes Henderson could have a lot to achieve from this month.
“Every day, you learn how things are done, you gain some confidence,” Fuller stated. “When you’re looking at Nathan Eovaldi, Rich Hill, all these pitchers you watch on TV as a young guy, and now you’re competing against them — to know that you are competing against them and that you belong up here, I think that fuels confidence every day. Even if you don’t have success off of them, it’s a learning, teaching tool for next year when you face them again. We’re really excited for Gunnar’s development.”
What’s to come back?
Last July, the Washington Nationals visited Camden Yards and have been swept by an Orioles crew that ultimately reached 110 losses, sparking a rebuild that had led to the trades of franchise cornerstones Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Juan Soto. With the Orioles’ postseason hopes narrowed, the National League’s worst crew can considerably return the favor. The groups’ two-game sequence that begins Tuesday represents one in every of Baltimore’s two remaining sequence in opposition to a crew exterior of each the American League East and playoff place.
Even if the Orioles aren’t capable of capitalize on their alternative in opposition to the Nationals, they’ll make up for it over the weekend of their three-game go to to Toronto, the place they’ll face a Blue Jays crew that they path by 5 1/2 video games for a wild-card spot.
What was good?
Rutschman’s impression on either side of the ball continues to be simple. At the plate, he slashed .292/.370/542, the one Orioles common to publish an OPS above .762 for the week. Behind the plate, his absence was noticeable, because it typically has been. In dropping six of its previous eight video games, Baltimore went 0-for-3 when Rutschman didn’t begin at catcher.
On the yr, the Orioles are 42-26 with Rutschman as their beginning catcher, which works out to a 100-win tempo over a 162-game season. When he hasn’t been there squatting for the sport’s first pitch, Baltimore is 31-41 general and 15-17 when solely contemplating video games he’s been on the roster.
What wasn’t?
For the primary time shortly, there are loads of choices to select from right here, with an anemic offense, brief begins coming off the rotation’s finest stretch of the yr, Félix Bautista’s bout of arm fatigue and a 17-4 blowout loss in opposition to Boston amongst them. But all of it culminates in a homestand that represented a chance to make a push within the wild-card race however as a substitute widened the hole between the Orioles and the AL’s three additional playoff spots.
After taking the primary two video games in opposition to AL-worst Oakland, Baltimore misplaced 4 video games of floor within the wild-card standings, largely by dropping three of 4 video games in opposition to Toronto.
“Until they say that we’re unable to do so, regardless of if we win out, then yeah,” outfielder Cedric Mullins stated of his perception the crew can attain the postseason.
The Orioles can technically make up floor on the Blue Jays with their six head-to-head matchups alone, however every loss in opposition to them or in any other case worsens their already-low odds.
On the farm
Top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez made two begins this week for Bowie as he continued to construct up in his return from a Grade 2 proper lat muscle pressure. He threw 40 pitches in two innings Tuesday, up 9 from his first begin again with High-A Aberdeen, and obtained as much as 56 whereas hanging out seven over 2 2/3 innings Sunday. On a five-day flip, Rodriguez’s subsequent begin is lined up for Friday, although it’s unclear whether or not he’ll pitch for Bowie once more or finally rejoin Norfolk.
He’s on observe to make three extra begins earlier than the Triple-A season ends, and by his present tempo, that could possibly be sufficient to get stretched out for a minimum of 90 pitches. The Orioles might then resolve to provide him another begin within the main league common season, both to assist the playoff push or give him a style to hold into subsequent yr.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com