Gunnar Henderson 2023

[interloper]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Gunnar is now tied with Hays for the third best fWAR on the team(for positional talent), trailing only Mullins and Adley. 

He is .5 away from Mullins and .3 from Adley.

And all of a sudden, a higher OPS than Adley. 

[Sports Guy]

 

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Gunnar is now tied with Hays for the third best fWAR on the team(for positional talent), trailing only Mullins and Adley. 

He is .5 away from Mullins and .3 from Adley.

This is where my project of tracking WAR every 18 games is fun.  Gunnar was at 0.4 fWAR/0.6 rWAR after 54 games.  Now he’s at 1.3/1.2 11 games later.  His OPS went from .701 to .804 in that span, wOBA from .309 to .350.   

[Frobby]

https://www.mlb.com/orioles/video/gunnar-henderson-is-al-potw

[Moose Milligan]

Well deserved player of the week. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Well deserved player of the week. 

Gunnar isn't just the hottest rookie in the American League right now. He's the hottest hitter in the all of the American League.

 

[Getz]

 

 

 

[Moose Milligan]

That's some pretty cool trivia.  

[AdamK]

Loved the intensity after crossing home plate on that grand slam. Hendo looked like he hurt some of our guys who were looking for high fives. 

Seemed like he wasn't going to be denied a bases-clearing hit in that moment despite Keirmaier's tracking of the fly ball.  Since it was hit straight at the camera angle I'm guessing we were all reading Keirmaier's body language and thinking he was going to stop backing up any second to squeeze the loud out. Loved that it just kept pushing him until he ran out of room. Those last 5 feet traveled should be credited to all Os fans in the stadium and at home watching on TV.

 

[Just Regular]

https://www.mlb.com/news/gunnar-henderson-breaking-out-for-orioles

[Moose Milligan]

Two hits today, the last one I saw was a single that was absolutely scalded.  And then he promptly got picked off.   

But the play to nail the runner at the plate was fantastic.  Made a perfect throw towards the 3rd base side so Adley could get the tag down.  https://www.mlb.com/orioles/video/yennier-cano-in-play-out-s-to-teoscar-hernandez

[ShoelesJoe]

Hitting .345 / .379 / .709 in June. What's weird is that he walked 15 times in April, and 12 times in May, but has only drawn 3 walks so far in June.  You'd think that as his bat heated up opposing pitchers would be more careful with him, but that doesn't appear to be the case. 

[Alasdaire]

41 minutes ago, ShoelesJoe said:

Hitting .345 / .379 / .709 in June. What's weird is that he walked 15 times in April, and 12 times in May, but has only drawn 3 walks so far in June.  You'd think that as his bat heated up opposing pitchers would be more careful with him, but that doesn't appear to be the case. 

I don't think fewer walks reflects on how he's being pitched. It's more of an indication that he's not taking nearly as much.

It's a skill in itself that he worked so many walks within the first two months, but the bat was sitting on his shoulder far too much. The single biggest difference to my eyes is that he's going after balls that he was taking before and turning walks into doubles/HRs.

[Hallas]

27 minutes ago, Alasdaire said:

I don't think fewer walks reflects on how he's being pitched. It's more of an indication that he's not taking nearly as much.

It's a skill in itself that he worked so many walks within the first two months, but the bat was sitting on his shoulder far too much. The single biggest difference to my eyes is that he's going after balls that he was taking before and turning walks into doubles/HRs.

I think he sat his bat on his shoulder because he had some mechanical issue that prevented him from being able to swing confidently at some pitches.  Now that he's corrected that, he's able to swing at more pitches effectively.  Both his swing rate and his contact rate are both quite a bit higher in June than it was from the beginning of the season through May.

[banks703]

Early in the season I wanted him swinging earlier in the count. I thought he was being TOO selective. There was some debate around it but I’d argue as soon as he adjusted his approach to be more aggressive, his season started coming together.
 

Cakes said on the broadcast (if I’m remembering correctly) that he is something like 21-25 on first-pitch balls that he puts in play. That’s absurd. 
 

I think that he eventually slots into the third spot in the order but hitting lead-off has done some good things for him. Though I’m not sure where he best fits in the order right now with Ced’s return. I think 6th is probably too low but I don’t think cleanup is right for him. Perhaps the lowerish leverage spot is better for him right now. Iunno. I don’t get paid to make those decisions but man, not knowing where to put your star rookie in your lineup because of the good players surrounding him is a darn good problem to have for sure. 
 

Edited June 25, 2023 by banks703