Gunnar Henderson has earned plenty of opportunities to flip his bat this season.
The Orioles shortstop ranks tied for second in the major leagues with 19 home runs, putting him on pace to hit 54 in his sophomore season. However, the 22-year-old rarely celebrates his long balls with the gusto some other players do, instead opting to politely admire his long balls for a few seconds before dropping the bat like a gentleman and trotting around the bases.
But that doesn’t mean Henderson isn’t finding his way to celebrate.
Instead of bat flipping after a homer, it’s following his walks when the budding superstar throws caution to the wind — and his bat through it.
“Honestly, for me, I treat them as good as a hit,” Henderson said of the 31 bases on balls he’s drawn this season.
After each ball four, Henderson flings his bat — an “aggressive walk,” manager Brandon Hyde called it — before making his way to first. He does so in such a forceful way that it’s raised questions about whether he’s chucking the bat in disgust or excitement.
Either way, the unusual celebration, like Henderson amid his emergence as one of baseball’s best players, is gaining notoriety. His teammates approve.
“We love it,” catcher James McCann said. “I think guys like to celebrate the homers, so we start celebrating our walks.”
“Everyone laughs when they see it,” second baseman Jorge Mateo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “It’s something we’ve never seen before.”
“I love the attitude behind it,” left-hander Cole Irvin said. “It’s hilarious.”
“I’m not sure what it is,” Hyde said, “but I like it.”
Brandon Hyde has noticed Gunnar Henderson’s post-walk bat tosses.
“It’s almost hit me a couple times,” he quipped.
Hyde isn’t sure if Henderson is doing it out of frustration or to pimp his walks. Either way:
“I like it. It’s an aggressive walk.” pic.twitter.com/dw7fJ3noqz
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) May 28, 2024
Henderson technically has two different walk celebrations. In the first, when the Orioles are in the first base dugout like at Camden Yards, Henderson puts the barrel of the bat in his right hand and flings it like a frisbee toward the first base dugout. For the other, when the Orioles are in the third base dugout like in most road ballparks, Henderson underhand chucks his bat before he turns and jogs to first.
Reliever Jacob Webb said he likes the former more than the latter, as it’s done with much more oomph.
“I would grade it an 8 or a 9,” Webb said. “It’s definitely fun to watch.”
There’s more of a range on McCann’s grade scale.
“It depends on how angry he is,” McCann quipped. “I’d say it’s never less than a 6.5. Sometimes it can be up to a 10.”
Henderson said it’s not because he’s angry about walking. If that were true, he would surely walk less often, as his 12% walk rate ranks in the 81st percentile of qualified MLB hitters, according to Baseball Savant. The 2023 American League Rookie of the Year said it began organically because of “how quick the game’s going” with the pitch clock. He is also wearing sliding mitts on both hands this year, so he needs extra time to put both on before it’s time for the next batter, normally Adley Rutschman, to hit.
“And [it] helps the guy who’s getting the bats and stuff,” Henderson said.
The evolution of Gunnar Henderson taking walks pic.twitter.com/ZWo6hDbKL3
— Avi Miller
(@AviMiIIer) June 1, 2024
McCann, the Orioles’ oldest position player, is such a fan he imitated Henderson, Baltimore’s youngest player, when the catcher drew his first walk of the season last week. Batting ninth, McCann flung his bat in Henderson-esque fashion to give way for the youngster to hit the second grand slam of his nascent career.
Henderson didn’t see McCann’s tribute until later, watching it on the iPad in the dugout later.
“It was pretty funny,” Henderson said. “That was his first one of the year, so it was a good one.”
Just a few years ago, a post-walk bat flip might have been frowned upon by opposing pitchers, but it doesn’t appear they care. Webb and Irvin said pitchers are usually too mad at themselves after they throw ball four to care about how the batter accepts it.
“I think the game has changed,” Webb said. “Even pimping a homer, to an extent, I think it’s part of the game. It makes the game fun and interesting. We get fired up when we get a big strikeout.”
Irvin grades it as a “solid 8,” but he has a piece of advice for his teammate nearly a decade his junior.
“Now, I don’t want it to get to Gronk spike territory,” Irvin said, referencing former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski’s touchdown celebration. “When the bat almost gets to the dugout, then it’s a 5 [out of 10]. We’ve got to watch some shins in the dugout.”
Hyde, who normally stands on the dugout’s top step, now has to.
“It’s almost hit me a couple times,” Hyde said with a laugh.
What’s to come?
Eight games against the AL East, and a pitching staff to manage.
The Orioles continue their gantlet this week with four games in Toronto versus the Blue Jays and four more in St. Petersburg against the Rays, with the final contest of that wraparound series coming next Monday. The two series come in the middle of a 43-game in 45-day stretch against mostly divisional foes and baseball’s best teams.
Perhaps more important than the results this week is how the Orioles handle their pitching staff. With season-ending injuries to John Means and Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer on the 15-day injured list, Baltimore doesn’t have the starting pitching depth it once did, nor does it have a long reliever in the bullpen. Without a day off until June 17 followed by 13 straight days with a game, how to use the bullpen to cover any leftover innings will be a nightly quandary.
What was good?
Attendance at the yard.
The Orioles’ total announced attendance this weekend against the Rays was 96,785 — a per-game average of 32,261. The last time more fans flocked to Camden Yards for a three-game series was August 2023. The last time it happened before schools let out (not including a home-opening series) was May 2017.
Through 33 home games, the Orioles’ average attendance is 26,085 — a 27.4% increase from the same point last year. After ranking 21st in total attendance last year, Baltimore is 18th this year and on pace to eclipse 2 million visitors — the mark of a solid attendance season — for the first time since 2017.
What wasn’t?
The bullpen decisions Hyde has to make.
Hyde was criticized by some fans Sunday for leaving right-hander Dillon Tate in to pitch the eighth inning with a one-run lead and left-hander Danny Coulombe warming. Right-handers Jacob Webb and Yennier Cano were unavailable to bridge the game to closer Craig Kimbrel, and Hyde preferred to use a right-hander against the middle of the Rays’ right-handed heavy lineup.
More important than an individual decision in a random June game is the fact that Hyde is in a difficult position because of the construction of the Orioles’ bullpen. There is no long reliever, Thyago Vieira can’t be trusted in a close game after he walked four batters in his first outing with the Orioles and there are rarely rested arms without simple opportunities to shuttle pitchers between Triple-A and the majors.
This bullpen will continue to put Hyde between a rock and a hard place until changes to its construction are made.
On the farm
Jackson Holliday’s time back in the minors has been a bit of a roller coaster — or at least it seems that way to those checking his box scores on a nightly basis.
He had a rough first few games, then went on a hot streak and then slumped for a week. Now, the 20-year-old No. 1 prospect is back on a heater.
Over his past 10 games, the first nine of which he hit safely in before going 0-for-1 on Sunday, Holliday is slashing .353/.463/.647 with a 1.110 OPS. It’s unclear when his next opportunity in the major leagues will be, but if he keeps putting up numbers like that, it won’t be too long before he’s back in the show.
Orioles at Blue Jays
Monday, 7:07 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
