At the end of each regular season, members of the media that cover the Baltimore Orioles select one player. These are media members that have followed the Orioles closely throughout the regular season and come together at the end to vote on the “Most Valuable Oriole.” The award is formally known as the “Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award.”
The award is named after the late Lou Hatter, who was a former writer for The Baltimore Sun. Hatter covered the team for 27 years. The balloting system is conducted on a 5-3-1 basis, meaning that a player who gets 5 votes moves on, then three, then 1.
The argument can be made that the MVO should go to the team rather than one player. There have been so many contributors this season like Felix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Adley Rutschman, Ryan O’Hearn, and Anthony Santander just to name a few. Henderson winning the award should not come as a shock, as he had an amazing season. Don’t forget that he’s a 22-year-old rookie.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Henderson. In the month of April, he hit .197 with 14 hits, 2 home runs and 14 RBIs in 22 games. Henderson followed that up with a .213 average, 17 hits, 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in the month of May. He wasn’t seeing left-handed pitching well, although he did walk a lot. Henderson finally broke out in the month of June batting .320 with 24 hits, 6 home runs and 16 RBIs in 20 games. He continued his hot streak throughout the rest of the regular season, finishing with a .257 average, 142 hits, 28 home runs and 82 RBIs.
Although his numbers are impressive already, they’re even better if you take out the first two months of the season. Henderson hit .278 with 105 hits, 20 home runs and 67 RBIs in June-September. After struggling through the first quarter of the season, Henderson found his groove and went on a tear to finish out the regular season. He is also the current frontrunner for the 2023 AL Rookie of the Year award. After battling with Masataka Yoshida of the Red Sox and Josh Jung of the Rangers, Henderson catapulted his way in front and didn’t take his foot off the gas.
Gunnar Henderson becomes just the fourth O’s rookie to win the award. He joins teammate Adley Rutschman (2022), Rodrigo Lopez (2002), and Gregg Olson (1989).
The sky is the limit for the 22-year-old sensation. He’s been a key piece in the Orioles fantastic rebuild and looks to continue to contribute as the team prepares for the postseason. Mike Elias continues to look like a genius, and the club will be set to compete for years to come. Look for more young guns (no pun intended) to make an impact in the future like Henderson did in 2023.
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