Being a Baltimore Orioles fan has come with some frustration over the past couple years.
But due to strategic trades, calculative moves and utilizing the draft to maximum benefit, there is a farm system that has excited fans from top to bottom.
We all know and recognize Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez as the top prospects in our system and in baseball in general. Other exciting prospects include Kyle Stowers, DL Hall and Kyle Bradish, to name a few.
Recently, the Orioles- No. 3 prospect, Gunnar Henderson, and No. 6 prospect, Jordan Westburg, were both promoted to Triple-A Norfolk.
Henderson, currently MLB’s No. 46 prospect, has turned heads, as he has been on a tear to rightly earn his promotion, playing at both shortstop and third base.
Riding a current five-game hitting streak, Henderson is batting .312 on year, while slugging at a .573 clip across 47 games. The 20-year-old phenom also has more walks than strikeouts (41 to 38) on the year.
Henderson was named to his second Prospect Team of the Week, after starting the week with eight hits in his first 13 plate appearances.
For the week, Henderson went 10-for-21 across five games, collecting three doubles, one triple and one home run. He scored three runs and tallied seven RBIs on the week.
The lefty-hitting Henderson has collected 49 hits on the season, which includes 11 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He has knocked in 35 runs, scoring 41 himself, and has even flashed some speed by swiping 12 bases on the year.
Henderson’s counterpart, Jordan Westburg, has been equally impressive.
Westburg earns his promotion in the midst of a current 10-game on-base streak that has raised his average .021 points on the year.
Collecting 45 hits on the season, half of those going for extra bases, including nine long balls, Westburg has also scored 32 runs, while collecting 32 RBIs on the season.
Westburg has played second, third and short this season, showing versatility while fielding each position very strongly.
As the young talent in the system makes its way upward and knocks on the door of Camden Yards, two of the top players in the system have taken the next step towards that door.
Westburg and Henderson are sure to turn more heads, as they get their feet wet in Norfolk and prepare for what their future holds.
What do you think of the promotion of Henderson and Westburg? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter! And make sure to use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content to show your Birdland swag!
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