After hitting the longest home run (462 feet) ever to reach Eutaw Street in Camden Yards’ history on June 11 against the Kansas City Royals, Gunnar Henderson was named American League Player of the Week by Major League Baseball.
Henderson, 21, was a second-round pick for the O’s in 2019, when he would start his career with Baltimore with the rookie Gulf Coast League Orioles. On August 22, 2022, Henderson made his major league debut against the Cleveland Guardians and would go on to make his first big league hit a home run.
This past week alone, Henderson slashed .526/.550/1.053 (10-for-19) with three home runs, six RBIs and an OPS of 1.603. In this past series against the Royals, Henderson had eight total hits, two steals and two home runs. This makes Henderson the sixth rookie in modern baseball to achieve this in a single three-game series.
For the period, Henderson led the American League in batting and on-base percentage, ranked second in slugging and OPS (1.063), tied for second in home runs, third in total bases (20), tied for third in hits and tied for fifth in RBIs.
“I feel like it’s a testament to the hard work. Just everything I had gone through at the beginning of the year. Just trusting the process and putting in a lot of hard work, and I feel like that has been the biggest thing.”
– Gunnar Henderson on winning AL Player of the Week honors
Prior to the posting of this piece, Henderson hit his first grand slam against the Toronto Blue Jays, finishing the night going 3-for-5 with the homer, four RBIs and a run scored. The young infielder is locked in, to say the least.
Such numbers show why MLB Pipeline’s top prospect coming into the season was recognized by the league this week. Henderson is one of the many Orioles eligible for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game as a designated hitter.
All of us at The Baltimore Battery want to congratulate Gunnar Henderson on his impressive and well-earned accomplishment.
What do you think of Gunnar’s hot stretch? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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