The Orioles have officially selected the contract of top prospect Gunnar Henderson. In corresponding moves, infielder Tyler Nevin was optioned to Triple-A and right-hander Denyi Reyes was designated for assignment.
There had been widespread speculation that Henderson would receive his first MLB promotion when the rosters expanded on September 1, though in calling Henderson up to the big leagues today, the Orioles have now made the infielder eligible for inclusion on a postseason roster should Baltimore continue its surprising season with a playoff berth.
A second-round pick for Baltimore in the 2019 draft, Henderson played in only 29 Rookie League games that season and then naturally didn’t play at all in 2020 due to the canceled minor league campaign. His first proper pro season saw Henderson play well enough to jump from A-ball to Double-A in 2021, and it put him on the top-100 prospect radar heading into the 2022 season.
Fast-forward to August, and the 21-year-old is now the top prospect in the sport in the eyes of Baseball America, with MLB Pipeline ranking Henderson second and Fangraphs ranking him fifth. Over 503 combined plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2022, Henderson has hit .297/.416/.531 with 19 homers, as well as 22 steals in 25 chances.
To go along with his power, speed, and hit tools, Henderson is also an accomplished fielder with a plus throwing arm. Drafted as a shortstop, Henderson has looked good at the position, but he has also seen a lot of time as a third baseman this season and also played a handful of games at first and second base. The Orioles have so many other promising young infielders (i.e. Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday) in the pipeline that the team is trying to be flexible in determining the ideal future position for any of these prospects, and Henderson’s usage might also hint at how the O’s will use him during the stretch run of the 2022 season.
The left-handed hitting Henderson could spell any of Ramon Urias, Jorge Mateo, or Ryan Mountcastle (all righty bats) at third, short, or first base, and Henderson could also take playing time away from Rougned Odor at second base. Henderson certainly isn’t being called up to sit on the bench, and he could quickly become a fixture if he performs well in his first look at Major League pitching.
Of course, it isn’t a given that Henderson will have such a quick start, as countless top prospects have taken some time to get accustomed to the majors. In Henderson’s case, his high strikeout rate in the minors is something of a red flag, though he has cut back on his swing-and-miss in 2022 in comparison to 2021. He had also posted huge BABIP numbers in the minors, yet Henderson’s speed (and ability to beat out grounders) is certainly a factor in those BABIP totals beyond just batted-ball fortune.
These are heady times for the Orioles, who have emerged from years of rebuilding doldrums to post a 67-61 record and get into contention for a wild-card berth. Adley Rutschman — an exception to that “top prospects usually need time to adjust” credo — has already become one of baseball’s best catchers, and other rookies like Felix Bautista, Dean Kremer, and Kyle Bradish have played outsized roles in the team’s success. Kyle Stowers and Terrin Vavra are two more rookies who made their MLB debuts in 2022, and Henderson is just one of several other top prospects waiting to emerge from Baltimore’s loaded farm system.
As recently noted by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Henderson will also still retain his rookie status for 2023 if he receives less than 13o at-bats, and thus the Orioles can still benefit from the Prospect Promotion Initiative included in the new collective bargaining agreement. This would put the O’s in line for a bonus draft pick if Henderson remains on the active roster for the entire 2023 season.
Reyes made his Major League debut this season, posting a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings over three appearances. A starter for much of his seven-year pro career in the Red Sox and Orioles farm systems, Reyes hasn’t had much consistency at either the Double-A or Triple-A levels, and he has a 7.50 ERA over 42 innings with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate this season.
Reyes has allowed 10 homers in those 42 frames, continuing a problem with the long ball that has now emerged over the last two seasons. Surrendering more homers has erased gains Reyes has made with his strikeout rate, and he has shown excellent control throughout his entire career, with a tiny 1.4 BB/9 during his 584 1/3 minor league innings.
Finally! Smart of them to do this just in case they sneak into the playoffs and Henderson proves he can hit major league pitching. They’d want him on their playoff roster if that is the case.
Unreal. Tonight. Os got Henderson at 3b Urias at dh… and odor starting at 2b. What kind of blackmail does he have over the manager.
O’s are looking at him same as they did other call-up’s……the same as many teams have done this year. Very few late season call-ups (if any) are starting every day.
The good news is that so far Jorge Mateo has remained at SS every game. The pitchers need (and want) his glove there and Mr. Hyde understands how important that is to winning. Another great sign that the O’s are a solid, knowledgeable baseball team, and not playing rotisserie league baseball as many (underperforming) teams do.
He got 2 hits… just sayin
Pretty sure he entered the night batting .199…. Lol your gonna defend that with he got 2 hits tonight…… lol you’ve got about 13 brain cells firing.
If you advocate the Orioles dfaing Odor, you have no brain cells firing. Not going to happen.
Are you talking about Odor? He’s got a nasty right hook. Just ask Jose Bautista.
Huh?
Now this is a spicy move.
Good for the O’s. Going for that playoff spot.
It’s going to be difficult to get to 10 to 15 games over which it would probably take to secure a spot. Especially with the division playing each other most of September. Amazing turnaround. Wonder if they’ll keep it going?
They got a lot of games left against Toronto that will be key
They’re 3 games back of Toronto with 34 left for them to play and some head-to-head matchups left. They’ve made up 2 games on Toronto over the previous 30 games (18-12 vs Toronto’s 16-14), so there’s definitely a chance! Should be an exciting stretch run.
10 games left against Toronto including last 3 of season. Nearly 30% of remaining games. Destiny is in their hands
Fun times in birdland right now
We knew this day was eventually coming with all of the young talent in their farm system but this team surprised a lot of people this season with how effective they have been. It’s only going to get better in Baltimore in the years to come. They should be division winning caliber by 2024 at the latest. It will come down to their pitching staff to see if they can be World Series contenders too. Time for Baltimore to start spending (wisely) in the offseason to help build out their rotation and bullpen.
I’m hoping. I really think they’ll go out and get pitching like the Astros did when they went out and got Verlander, Cole, Greinke. Degrom would be a welcome surprise but I think they’d wait until they see more clearly where they stand in the rebuild before shelling out huge money to an often injured ace.
1. When the Astros acquired Verlander and Cole they were not making superstar money and they weren’t pitching very well. The Astros reworked them and that’s what got them the gaga salaries. Greinke did have an outrageous high contract, but as I recall the DBacks had to eat some of it to get the Astros to take him on.
2. Everyone thinks a team they follow is going to get geGrom. He’s established with the Mets and likes it there. The owner just gave Max Scherzer a 3 year / $130m contract. Is there a rational person following MLB that thinks another team will outbid the Mets?
3. The O’s will probably bring in one and maybe 2 starting pitchers this offseason. But as they’ve done with Kremer, Wells, Voth and Watkins – and as the Astros did the Verlander and Cole – they’ll probably look to bring in an underperforming pitcher that their coaches and scouts will already have a plan in place to retool…and they’ll continue to watch the waiver wire. Means will be back by mid-season to pitch some as should Grayson Rodriguez, and Hall will be getting a chance (although possibly wind up in the bullpen).
4. The O’s are a small market team. While their current payroll is low, they already have half a dozen players that look like it’ll cost them big money to retain in coming years – with even more coming up from the minors in the next 2-3 years. So I don’t see them dumping hundreds of millions of dollar’s with 5-+ year contract for many FA’s.
@samuel Thank you Mr know it all
Samuel – Verlander was making $28MM when traded to the astros – thats superstar money. Cole was in arb so understandable that he wasn’t making superstar money ( although nearly $4MM first time thru is pretty hefty)
Comparing Voth and Watkins to Verlander and Cole exposes one’s abject stupidity
Spelled “dollars,” no apostrophe in English.
Dorothy Mantooth… you may be a saint, but I have disagree here. 😉
Woah Woah Woah , Id pump the brakes a tad here //2024 by the latest??…so next year essentially
They need not make a 2021 Det Tigers mistake of moving in too quick
Tigers and Os…. Apples to oranges.
@bmore cap still has a good point, tbh bal should stick with low key moves, maybe pick up a few mid-tier fa’s and see how the kids pan out after a few years in the bigs.
The O’s have built a strong base from within. The Tigers are hype with no real base. The 2021 central division was at its nadir and the Tigers still finished under .500.
“tbh” is the dumbest thing kids say these days…
that would be true if i was a kid, but i think it was my generation that started abbreviated multiple words. then again texting on a key pad sucked especially if passed up your letter
@brodie – Nah… Sounds like fear talking. If I’m the O’s, I’m dumping 2 years of record-breaking type money on a TOR SP (Verlander, deGrom…). They have payroll capacity, so 2 years of $30-35M per is nothing. They can let the kids sink/swim with an ace.
@Cap – Yessir! 2023 we’re knocking!
There is no apples to apple’s comp but there are lessons to be learned from the past and the Tigers of last year – You want another…The Phillies post Osdrubel signing (Not good overall)
Too early to go crazy in the free agent market.. I like action as much as the next fella and I love what Bal is doing currently. Saying that there’s a ton of directions they can go next year…Overspending is probably the worst one they can chose
Time is a good stew’s best friend. The O’s have a good stew brewing, no need to overwhelm the dish soo soon.
No doubt knocking, but its the toughest Div in baseball
Time is your friend today, no need to try and overshoot the landing here
Using “myself” when they mean “I” or “me” is way up there.
You could just not text ‘to be honest’ and stand on the merits of what you write. Also, do you really ever need to say ‘just sayin?’ The only time it makes any sense at all is when you have said something so horribly repulsive and you are trying to dismiss the ugliness of what you just said as if it’s just comedy, so “JS”
Good for the O’s and good for baseball
Immediate upgrade to Odor/Urias.
Let’s hope he gets the ABS unlike they did w Vavra.
I don’t get Vavra not playing more
Vavra really impressed me when I saw him. Seems strange.
Vavra, unfazed by the bright lights. Play him more, please!
@2012orioles – Vavra’s OBP is a mirage. The lack of power means pitchers will challenge him until he proves otherwise. Got pitch selection, but he has to prove he’s an MLB hitter. I’d give more ABs to Stowers personally. Solid plate discipline with plus power. He’ll get his Ks but also his BBs too.
Gunnar will get his ABs just like Adley did. Those guys are a different breed.
Os were fools to take away abs from him. Yes he is sub par fielder. But his bat makes up for it. This was always known as he was making his way thru the minors. He was the better option over odor at 2b once factoring in all aspects. Odor could of been used at late inning def replacement. Get best of both world.
As a Cubs fan with not much to look forward to the rest of the way, I’m really hoping the Orioles get into the playoffs. Some exciting young players, and some pitchers that are really stepping up. Brandon Hyde should be manager of the year in the AL, no question.
He probably will get snubbed the way Servais was last season, if the voters have any consistency.
Now, this is stylish!!!
I thought a prospect was postseason eligible as long as they were on the 40 man roster prior to September 1st. Was this changed in the new CBA?
It’s all the same still, Gunnar was just added to the 40 (and 26, obviously) today.
Ah gotcha, I didn’t realize he wasn’t on their 40 man yet
Orange Birds are a fun group to watch this season. A Urias/Henderson Platoon at Third, and some starts at 1st Base/DH from time to time should improve the squad. Birds will become a force to be reckoned with upcoming.
Exciting times in Birdland! Henderson should play 3rd everyday, with Vavra at 2nd. Bring Urias and Odor off the bench.
Mullins CF
Henderson 3B
Rutchsman C
Santander DH
Mountcastle 1B
Stowers RF
Hays LF
Vavra 2B
Mateo SS
urias on bench? swap vavra for urias and that’s a playoff team. Add grayson rodriguez and dl hall and that’s a world series contender.
oh yeah and now jesus aguilar is their dh, put stowers on the bench
Urias/Henderson Platoon at Third until Henderson is ready to man the fort on his own, maybe middle of next season? When one plays Third- the other can still get playing time simultaneously by helping DH/Snag some 1st Base Duties.
He’s ready. He has some learning still to do but there is no reason not to play him everyday
Henderson can start 150 games at SS or 3B right now.
I believe that Henderson will now supplant Michael Harris as the youngest player in MLB.
Yep, he was the youngest in AAA too.
watch out yankees. The o’s are coming
Exciting news, by Yimminy.
“A natural shortstop who hits left-handed, Henderson figures to get the lion’s share of reps at third base given the emergence of Jorge Mateo at short, possibly setting up a platoon with Ramón Urías. Henderson, though, was tasked with making his first career professional starts at second and first base before his callup, and it remains to be seen how flexible the club wants him to be during his first go in the big leagues.”
https://www.mlb.com/news/gunnar-henderson-called-up-by-orioles
He’s got enough on his plate just making the jump to the bigs. With only 3 starts at first base and 6 at second base, it would be asking a lot to make him play anywhere other than short or third base.
Hyde said he’s not playing Gunnar on the right side of the IF. SS or 3B only.
I keep seeing sportswriters say that because Henderson was called up prior to Sept 1 he’s eligible for postseason. Unless there was a rule change I’m not aware of, this is wrong. My understanding is that anyone in the organization as of Sept 1 is available. Maybe they have to be on the 40 man roster? Not sure. But KRod is the obvious example of this. He wasn’t called up by the Angels until mid Sept in 2002, but helped the team win the WS.
Players are eligible if they are on the 40 man and in the majors by Sept 1.
They can replace an injured player basically giving teams a loophole to get pretty much anyone on the post season roster even if not on the team by the “deadline”. So you could put on a position player on 9/10 to “replace” say Means who is obviously not coming back this yr. Managing the off season 40 man will be the problem then though.
Just need to be on the 40.
In the event of an injury to someone on the 40 man roster I’m guessing teams can add a minor leaguer who was part of the organization by sept 1 and they’d qualify for the postseason.
Dat boy got toonder in his bat, by yolly!
Looks like there’ll be a new reign in AL East for years to come!
Don’t count your chicks before they hatch.
Crazy how quickly this lineup has skewed left handed. Good news is most of the teams left have predominantly right hand era in their rotation right now.
They moved that wall out for many reasons
Dude needs to get a smaller helmet. Two hits, helmet flew off both times. Nice debut with a homer and single!
Somewhere EDthemythicalONe and ThorntonMellon are tugging each other off, assuring each other Gunnar, Adley and the other prospects will all be colossal failure because they play for the Orioles.
That is if they are not the same person…
Man this kid is something else!