The future is now for the Orioles. The American League’s best team is enjoying a renaissance in 2023, kicking ass and taking names behind a vanguard of young, unshackled talent.
And no player represents the O’s youth movement more than second baseman Gunnar Henderson. Once considered the top prospect in baseball, Henderson has enjoyed quite the rookie campaign. He hits the ball hard and hits the ball far, all while sporting impressive footspeed and above-average range at second. Couple that with his scintillating arm strength and you have a 22-year old who has all the makings of a franchise cornerstone.
Barring a momentous collapse, Henderson — with his 117 OPS+ — will likely cruise to AL Rookie of the Year honors. Only 74 players have earned that distinction.
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But on Sunday, Henderson had a chance to join an even more exclusive list. The precocious lefty laid siege to the Athletics’ pitching, completing three legs of the cycle — a double, a triple and a home run — in his first four at-bats. All that separated him from MLB immortality was a measly single. With the way he puts wood to the ball, any ball in play would give him a good shot.
Henderson did his usual Paul Bunyan impression, striking Zach Neal’s lofted breaking ball with venom. It skidded into the outfield, easily nestling into lush green forest of left field. Henderson had hit for the cycle, becoming one of 12 Orioles players to accomplish such a feat.
Or, had he? The ball just kept on rolling, and soon, so did Henderson. He rounded first, dust swirling around the bag as he made his turn. To second he went and my, was he fast: he didn’t even have to slide to beat the throw.
Gunnar Henderson had the chance to do the funniest thing ever and he did. pic.twitter.com/vPKtCfhjE7
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 20, 2023
Henderson’s teammates were awestruck, flashing the sort of look a teacher would give to an earnest, but oblivious pupil.
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The thing is, Henderson knew exactly what he was doing. He donned a sheepish smile as he peered at his teammates in Baltimore’s dugout.
Maybe Henderson was onto something: four extra base hits in one game seems a far more notable achievement than the cycle. It also helps keep that slugging percentage healthy and happy.
“There were some guys that were teasing him about it, but maybe he’s working on his OPS,” manager Brandon Hyde quipped. “He plays the game a million miles an hour, and it’d be hard … for him, I’m sure, to pull up.”
For what it’s worth, Henderson’s accomplishment was far more rare than the one he spurned. By strutting into second on that fiery liner, Henderson became the youngest player in franchise history to record four extra base hits in a single game, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. The person he passed? Cal Ripken Jr.
at 22 years & 52 days old, Gunnar Henderson is the youngest player in Orioles/Browns history with 4 extra-base hits in a game
prior youngest: Cal Ripken Jr. at 23 y, 10 d on 9/3/83 https://t.co/PhbGqZqx7i
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 20, 2023
The accolades don’t stop there for Henderson. He’s the first player to record two-doubles a triple and a home run in a single game since David Wright in 2013.
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4D chess, my friends. Henderson explained the method to his madness postgame, arguing that he couldn’t justify pulling up short on a clear two-bagger. If it was meant to be, Henderson’s cycle would come on a chopper, or a blooper or some other effort that forced him to put on the brakes at first.
“If that situation happened, then I’d just sit on the fact that if it was meant to be, it would be a true single,” Henderson said. “I just play the game hard and a double opportunity was there, so I feel like that is just the way I play.”
That’s a rather noble statement. That doesn’t mean Henderson’s teammates agreed with it, however.
“Well, if it was me,” Jorge Mateo reckoned, “I would have fallen at first base and just stayed there, you know?”
