On the night of June 3, 2019, roughly 50 individuals gathered within the yard of a single-family dwelling in Valley Grande, Ala. The solar was nonetheless excessive on a 92-degree day that confirmed no indicators of cooling down because the group stood across the pool, munching on chips, dip and pizza.
Kerry and Allen Henderson had been hesitant about attending the occasion. Hosted by a pal, it was a watch occasion for Main League Baseball’s annual draft, and their 17-year-old son, Gunnar, was amongst these hoping to be chosen. They have been anxious, and questioned if they need to have simply watched at dwelling. However the host, Terry Waters, had thrown batting observe to Gunnar for MLB scouts who got here to their small neighboring city, Selma, which has roughly 16,000 individuals. Waters and lots of others within the space felt invested within the final result of the draft.
Gunnar was a consensus first-round choose, a strong 6-foot-3, 195-pound shortstop at John T. Morgan Academy, who had been named Alabama’s high highschool basketball participant. Mock drafts had him going between picks 14 and 25. Choose No. 25 was “the ground,” per The Athletic’s draft skilled Keith Legislation.
The occasion was in full swing as the primary 10 picks flashed on a giant flat display screen exhibiting the MLB Community’s stay broadcast. Then individuals started to pay nearer consideration. The Phillies, who informed Henderson they’d take him at No. 14 if faculty shortstop Bryson Stott wasn’t accessible, acquired their best choice. Three picks later, the Nationals, who had hosted a non-public exercise for Henderson, went with pitcher Jackson Rutledge. The Dodgers used choose No. 25 on Tulane third baseman Kody Hoese.
The names saved ticking off. The group saved ready. The Yankees had at all times most well-liked one other highschool shortstop, Anthony Volpe, and took him – the eighth shortstop drafted – at No. 30. A faction of Houston’s scouting division needed Henderson, however the Astros in the end chosen Cal catcher Korey Lee with choose No. 32.
Each group however Boston, which didn’t have a first-round choose that yr, handed on Henderson. The Pirates handed on him twice, as did the Dodgers. Arizona and Tampa Bay handed on him thrice every. The athleticism was engaging, as have been Henderson’s uncooked instruments, however he wasn’t a certain wager. He hadn’t fared that effectively on the current summer season circuit. The Astros weren’t certain he might make sufficient contact and stick at shortstop, and the Dodgers had issues about his swing and lack of domination towards the weaker competitors Henderson confronted in Selma. Group after group didn’t need to take the danger.
When the Texas Rangers took Baylor third baseman David Wendzel with choose No. 41, the published of the draft ended — solely the primary spherical and 9 compensatory/aggressive steadiness picks have been televised — and the TV was switched to a different channel.
A pall fell over the occasion. Kerry fought again tears. Allen felt sick. Ultimately, Gunnar and his dad and mom tried to lighten the temper, reminding everybody of the fallback plan.
“We’re going to Auburn!” the trio introduced. The group cheered.
Henderson, nonetheless simply 23, has amassed greater than 9 WAR in a dominant follow-up to his Rookie of the Yr 2023 season. (Daniel Shirey / MLB Pictures through Getty Photographs)
Gunnar Henderson by no means made it to Auburn.
The 23-year-old is among the high 5 gamers in Main League Baseball, by FanGraphs WAR. He’s the reigning American League Rookie of the Yr, an All-Star and the face of the Baltimore Orioles, a group broadly thought to be being within the early phases of a possible dynasty. The O’s will start the wild-card spherical of the playoffs towards the Kansas Metropolis Royals on Tuesday, and their shortstop — coming off among the finest single seasons in Orioles historical past — will take heart stage.
Henderson was drafted with the primary choose within the second spherical and is among the larger scouting misses in current reminiscence. A lot of the prospects drafted earlier than Henderson are nonetheless within the minors, or struggling to show they belong within the massive leagues. Solely No. 2 choose Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals has been as impactful a hitter.
“Each metropolis we go to, you speak to different coaches who’re like ‘How did this man final that lengthy?” stated Orioles supervisor Brandon Hyde.
Henderson’s rise highlights the imperfect nature of the draft, as groups repeatedly talked themselves out of a gifted however dangerous highschool participant. It’s additionally a developmental success story, because the plan Baltimore crafted for Henderson, together with an unorthodox strategy throughout the pandemic, set him as much as arrive and produce within the majors sooner than anticipated.
In 2018, when Mike Elias was the Astros’ scouting director, he started scrutinizing the next yr’s draft class, circling Henderson’s identify as his most well-liked alternative with Houston’s late first-round choose. However that November, Elias was employed as Baltimore’s normal supervisor. The rebuilding Orioles had the No. 1 choose and would take Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman.
On Baltimore’s inside draft board, Henderson, who was additionally effectively favored by the incumbent scouting group, was someplace between Nos. 14 and 16. However as a result of the Orioles wouldn’t choose once more till No. 42, touchdown him appeared like a pipe dream. A lot in order that Kerry informed her youngest son, Cade, to alter out of the pajama pants that includes his favourite group — the Orioles — earlier than he might go to the draft occasion.
Because the draft picks acquired to the low 30s, and with Henderson’s identify nonetheless on the market, Elias — who had scouted Henderson greater than two dozen occasions — known as Henderson’s then-agent, Larry Reynolds, to ask: Would Henderson signal in the event that they paid him over slot worth? Reynolds wasn’t certain. The household had been fairly clear it was the primary spherical or Auburn. They patched in Allen, who was nonetheless lingering on the Waters’ dwelling. After the Auburn announcement, Kerry had gone to attempt to eat one thing. Gunnar was out again enjoying cornhole. There wasn’t time to collect them and relay the message, not to mention make a life-altering choice.
A couple of minutes later, Gunnar and Kerry came upon the Orioles had chosen him within the second spherical on a ticker scrolling throughout the underside of the TV.
Nobody slept that evening. Kerry was up crying, tossing and turning and praying. She by no means cared which group took Gunnar or how a lot cash he acquired. As a substitute she had hoped and prayed for a “clear path.” For her and Allen, being a first-round choose felt like a transparent sufficient path for his or her son to bypass faculty. However now what?
The following morning, taking a stroll by the neighborhood to assume, Kerry obtained a name from Astros scout Travis Coleman, who had coached Gunnar in journey ball. “Baltimore doesn’t have a shortstop. There’s a transparent path for him there,” Coleman stated.
Elias known as later that day, telling the Hendersons how excited he was that the Orioles had drafted Gunnar. He additionally talked about that the Orioles didn’t have long-term infielders and that the group was rebuilding round its younger gamers. Baltimore, Elias stated, was the place Gunnar was purported to be. “There’s a transparent path right here,” Elias stated.
There it was once more. Two individuals utilizing the precise phrase Kerry had used herself to explain what she needed for her son, that sealed it. Henderson agreed to signal with the Orioles for $2.3 million, $500,000 above slot worth, forgoing Auburn.
Inside baseball, the COVID-19 pandemic has broadly been thought of a misplaced developmental yr. The 2020 minor league season was canceled, with most gamers left to coach on their very own or under no circumstances. The one setup allowed for Main League groups was an “alternate website” with a most of 30 gamers, which for many groups consisted of huge leaguers and Triple-A gamers who might function roster depth for the big-league squad, overlaying accidents and underperformance.
Baltimore, recent off a 54-108 season, despatched Rutschman and Henderson to their alternate website, despite the fact that each have been years away from being on a big-league roster. The considering was easy: These have been youth, and so they had simply paid each guys massive bonuses. What else have been they going to do?
“It’s like you might have a child, and you’ve got a alternative of both he doesn’t go to highschool otherwise you skip six grades,” Elias stated. “We determined to skip six grades.”
Rutschman, an older, extra polished faculty athlete who had gone by three ranges his first professional season, held his personal straight away. Henderson, who had solely 29 rookie ball video games below his belt, struggled mightily. In his first at-bat, he confronted Eric Hanhold, a journeyman reliever virtually eight years his senior. He struck out on three pitches.
“He noticed straight away that Adley was having some success and he wasn’t adequate. And it drove him loopy,” stated Orioles hitting coach Ryan Fuller.
Henderson had at all times been a tireless employee. When his dad and mom came over him in rookie ball, he and Allen snuck onto a highschool subject after a foul sport so Gunnar might swing out a few of his frustration. There was no display screen to defend Allen, so he held an outdated chain hyperlink fence in entrance of him with one hand and pitched with the opposite.
On the alternate website, Henderson “got here to us straight away and stated, ‘I stink, let’s get to work,’” Fuller stated. The focus early on was the barrel entry on Henderson’s bat. It was too steep and he would pull his palms into the zone off airplane. Even in rookie ball, Henderson had seen how uncovered the pure loft in his swing left him to rising fastballs. So, for weeks, he labored within the batting cage making an attempt to attach with little foam balls — “hoppy heaters” — that may rise as they approached the plate.
Every day, Henderson would get to the sphere round 10:30 a.m. and work within the cage. Then he’d take floor balls and roughly 5-10 stay at-bats, completely overmatched towards guys who had been in Triple A or the massive leagues.
“Each single day he would take his beating,” stated Matt Blood, then director of participant growth, “and he would return to the cage and they might simply prepare, prepare, prepare.”
There was nowhere to go however the lodge and the sphere, but Henderson was in heaven. “It was in all probability some of the enjoyable occasions I’ve had enjoying,” he stated. “It was all about growth, and I took it severely.”
There was no worrying about slash strains, or wins and losses. There have been no distractions. “It was limitless reps, and perhaps we weren’t the neatest on the time, however we had younger, motivated gamers desirous to hit,” Fuller stated. “After we had downtime, we’d go to the cage. And it wasn’t feel-good swings, it was at all times one thing actually difficult. It was virtually experimental at that time. However these guys knew that we have been constructing for one thing larger.”
Roughly three weeks in, Henderson began holding his personal throughout the simulated video games. A swing change which may have taken months or perhaps a yr below regular circumstances advanced a lot sooner due to 1000’s of reps on the alternate website. Henderson was flattening out his swing to create a greater path to the ball. The Orioles saved inside stats on the alternate website, and whereas Henderson’s batting common by no means recovered from the early shellacking, his OPS began creeping up, approaching the respectable .700s when it was by.
“This younger dude is competing towards these guys that he actually had no enterprise competing towards,” Blood stated. “And by the tip of it, we’re all one another like, if he retains this charge of observe and growth up, we’d have an animal on our palms.”
Gunnar Henderson homered in his major-league debut. (Nick Cammett / Getty Photographs)
That fall, Henderson performed within the Orioles educational league. In 2021 Henderson began placing up what Elias calls “freakish exit velocity numbers,” and flew by three ranges to finish at Double A. By the next June, he was promoted to Triple A. There, Henderson slugged .504 with a .374 batting common on balls in play. He was promoted to the big-leagues on Aug. 31. Henderson’s first hit was a house run the place he swung so exhausting — 107.1 mph off his bat — that his helmet fell off.
In spring coaching 2023, Henderson texted his now-fiancée, Katherine Lee Bishop, who’s in her remaining yr of pharmacy faculty at Auburn, his aim was to win AL Rookie of the Yr. Earlier than every season, he texts Bishop his massive aim for the yr, after which they don’t discuss it once more.
In that 2023 rookie season, Henderson began slowly. Then on June 8, he hit a go-ahead, two-run, eighth-inning homer down the left-field line in Milwaukee that helped get his mojo again. Each evening, he was showcasing the speedy enhancements he’d made on the plate and a glove that might maintain its personal at shortstop. He did win Rookie of the Yr, the primary Oriole in 34 years to take action, and he did it in unanimous vogue.
This yr, Henderson slashed .282/.366/.531 in 158 video games. He had 92 RBI, 118 runs scored (sixth-most in baseball) and was voted Most Precious Oriole for the second season in a row. Nonetheless, after some video games, Henderson bemoans to Bishop that he didn’t barrel up a ball all evening. It doesn’t matter if he went 3-for-4 with a number of RBIs. In Triple A, Henderson would go from a full dash to a full-stop down the primary baseline so shortly that his supervisor Buck Britton needed to look away, he was so nervous in regards to the younger star blowing out a hamstring. It was Henderson’s approach of blowing off steam.
“I want he wouldn’t be so exhausting on himself typically,” Hyde stated. “He actually doesn’t assume he ought to ever get out … He’ll come again (to the dugout) and there’s type of a bewilderment, like, how did that simply occur?”
On a younger Baltimore group, Henderson’s depth is combined with youthful exuberance.
For the All-Star sport, Henderson had a Scooby Doo bat made and, when coming off the sphere, grabbed the ESPN mic to yell the cartoon canine’s signature line, “Ruh Roh Raggy!” Henderson additionally lists much-maligned Star Wars character Jar-Jar Binks as one other high impression and is a surprisingly assured singer, considering nothing of cranking up the radio and serenading Bishop on their first date.
“Now we have a few karaoke days on the (Orioles) bus,” stated Henderson, who used Motley Crue’s “Kickstart my Coronary heart” as his walkup tune within the minors after which change to Gwen Stefani’s “Sweep Escape” — an concept from his older brother, Jackson — to get the followers extra concerned. Henderson has an outdated nation tune he performs within the batting cages on Sundays, however teammates “by no means needed me to sing it in there,” he stated. He normally respects that.
Henderson’s manners are impeccable, if not jarring in a giant league clubhouse. He peppers each sentence with “sir” or “ma’am”, one thing coaches have needed to inform him to cease doing. It often nonetheless slips into an in-game dialog with Hyde. “We’re previous that now,” Fuller says, laughing. “No extra ‘sir.’”
It’s a reminder of the best way he was raised. When Henderson went professional, he promised his dad and mom he’d get a school diploma. Kerry and Allen have the notepad he scrawled it in for safekeeping. Henderson has accomplished sufficient on-line credit by Wallace Neighborhood Faculty Selma, the place Kerry works, to be a sophomore. He’s working towards a Bachelor of Science in Enterprise Administration, a aim that’s on maintain now as he offers with extra urgent issues.
Baltimore, whose final World Sequence win was in 1983, was swept out of the AL Division Sequence by the Rangers final yr, ending a magical 101-win season. It was a setback chalked up, partly, to the group’s youth. The O’s, many nationwide pundits imagine, are simply initially of what may very well be a future of success. This yr, the expectations are a lot larger.
And whereas the Orioles have relied on key trades (like pitcher Corbin Burnes) and feel-good tales (Ryan O’Hearn and starter Albert Suárez), the roster is constructed round a younger position-player core that features Henderson, Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg.
All of these guys have been picked larger of their respective draft lessons than Henderson, who nearly every other group might have had. As a substitute, he’s in Baltimore, the place his face is plastered on posters and the place he has already handed a man named Cal Ripken, Jr. for many dwelling runs (37) by a shortstop in group historical past.
The awkwardness of that draft occasion 5 years in the past feels gentle years away from an already-impressive profession nonetheless in its infancy.
“The Orioles weren’t on my radar,” Henderson stated, “nevertheless it labored out.”
(High picture: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; Pictures: Scott Taetsch / Getty Photographs)
