With Baltimore nursing a 2-0 lead within the ninth inning, Gunnar Henderson hit a three-run bomb off reliever Phil Maton to supply some cushion in a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was residence run No. 20 on the 12 months for Henderson. In response to OptaStats, no lead-off-hitting shortstop had ever reached 20 residence runs earlier than turning 23, whether or not in the identical season or not. Henderson achieved the feat solely 63 video games into the 2024 marketing campaign.
The 2023 American League Rookie of the 12 months is off to a red-hot begin. Henderson has recorded a success in 10 of the final 11 video games, going 12-for-42 with three homers and eight RBI over that stretch.
Following Saturday’s outing, Henderson is slashing .263/.367/.580, and solely New York Yankees slugger Aaron Decide (22) has hit extra residence runs league-wide.
In the meantime, the Orioles are additionally enjoying effectively. At 41-22, they personal the second-best report within the AL and path the Yankees by solely three video games for the East lead.
Henderson’s emergence has him rightfully within the early MVP dialog. Heading into Sunday, he has the fourth-best odds (+480) to win the award, behind solely Juan Soto (+460), Bobby Witt Jr. (+450) and Decide (+125), per FanDuel.
