Gunnar Henderson Makes Controversial Comments About Future At Orioles…

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Coming off an American League Rookie of the Year campaign, Gunnar Henderson entered the 2024 season with massive expectations. He’s lived up to every bit of them so far. The Orioles’ shortstop reached base five times and finished a triple shy of the cycle Wednesday to lead Baltimore to a 6-5 series-clinching win over the Los Angeles Angels, crushing his team-leading eighth home run of the year and stealing his fifth base in the process. Right-hander Dean Kremer also tied his career high of 10 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings and designated hitter Adley Rutschman capped off an impressive series with a pair of hits. But it was Henderson who fueled the victory for the Orioles (16-8). After homering off a left-handed pitcher Tuesday night, he took Angels southpaw Tyler Anderson deep to right-center field for a solo shot in the third inning. His home run total ranks third in the majors behind only Angels center fielder Mike Trout, who also left the yard for the second straight day for his 10th of the year, and Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, who has nine. “Just being able to, yeah, stay on the baseball and use your hands and not try to do too much,” manager Brandon Hyde said after the game. “We had a lot of guys do that in Kansas City but off a tough lefty like that, doesn’t give up many runs this whole year, to be able to do that, it was impressive.” MLB’s season leader in triples (3) had a chance to complete the cycle when he came to the plate in the eighth, but he was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. The 22-year-old pushed his season slash line to .309/.367/.649 with the three-hit performance, driving in three runs and scoring another three himself. His 1.016 OPS leads the AL. “I’m making some adjustments,” Henderson said after the game. “I kind of felt like I was getting around to where I wanted to be but still not exactly where I want to be just yet, but I felt like I made some good improvements in the cage today. So, getting the progress started.”