As the Baltimore Orioles continue their chase for a postseason appearance, the club has become one of the most fun teams to watch in the sport. Not only are fans rooting for one of the game’s worst teams in recent years to continue their turnaround, there is considerable interest surrounding the youth movement sweeping Baltimore through names such as Adley Rutschman, DL Hall, and most recently, Gunnar Henderson.
Currently baseball’s No. 2 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Henderson is a name that should sound familiar to fans of the sport at the high school level in Alabama. The Orioles’ talented infielder played his high school ball in the Yellowhammer State a few years back and is one of the most talented players to come from there in recent memory.
Henderson was a multi-sport athlete at Morgan Academy, where he made his mark on the baseball field in particular. As an Auburn commit, he was not considered the top player in Alabama and one of the nation’s top high school hitters in the 2019 class.
Rated a top draft prospect after his senior season at Morgan, Gunnar Henderson didn’t have to wait long to hear his name called in the 2019 MLB Draft – Baltimore took him early in the second round, at pick No. 42. Since beginning his professional career, he has done nothing but continue to impress.
Henderson enjoyed a solid start to his professional career in 2019, appearing in 29 games at the Rookie level. After slashing .259/.331/.370 during that span, he truly began to take off in 2021, a year in which he made the jump all the way from Low-A to Double-A by slashing .258/.350/.476 across 105 games with 17 HR, 74 RBI, and 16 SB.
Henderson continued to build on those two seasons in 2022, slashing .297/.416/.531 with 19 HR, 79 RBI, and 22 SB across 112 games in the minor leagues this season. Receiving his MLB call-up just last week, Henderson has already begun making an impact on the Orioles’ playoff chase, even hitting a home run for his first-career major league hit. Looking ahead, it certainly appears that Gunnar Henderson will be a key player as Baltimore makes its 2022 playoff push.
