In playoffs, Gunnar Henderson faced a player he has often been compared with

When the Orioles played the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series, O’s shortstop Gunnar Henderson was in the opposite dugout from a player he has been compared to for several years.

The comps started well before Henderson would be selected No. 42 overall by the Orioles in the June 2019 MLB Draft. That big kid at shortstop from Alabama’s John T. Morgan Academy in Selma was compared to then Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who had been the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year.

In the 2012 MLB Draft, the Dodgers had selected Seager No. 18 overall out of a North Carolina high school. He was named NL ROY in his age 22 season. Henderson, who turned 22 in June, is the heavy favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award later this month.

The Henderson-Seager comps are still out there.

In early September, in a very flattering article on the Orioles for Sports Illustrated, Tom Verducci wrote that “Henderson has hit more homers (23) already than any 22-and-under rookie shortstop except Cal Ripken (28), Corey Seager (26) and Troy Tulowitzki (24). He is Seager with a better glove and more speed,” said Verducci.

Gunnar would go on to hit 28 homers, matching Ripken for most by any 22-and-under rookie shortstop. He’s been compared to Ripken as well, another big shortstop. And another who won a ROY award.

Henderson's year included his batting .255/.325/.489/.814 with 29 doubles, nine triples, 28 homers, 100 runs and 82 RBIs. He finished with a 9.0 walk rate and 25.6 K rate.

During the ALDS with Texas, Henderson talked about playing against Seager.

“Growing up he was definitely a guy I looked at as a taller shortstop. To be able to compete with him is pretty cool,” he said.

When Seager was the ROY in 2016, at 22, he batted .308/.365/.512/.877 with 40 doubles, five triples, 26 homers and 72 RBIs. It was a strong year producing an OPS+ of 134.

Since the 2020 season, Seager has produced a combined .290 batting average and .896 OPS for an OPS+ of 142 for his age 26-29 years. As Henderson gets older, gains more experience and gets even more reps versus lefty pitching, those numbers sure seem within his reach.

In an interview not long after the Orioles drafted him in 2019, Henderson was asked then about the comps to Seager, and he liked them.

"That is kind of who I model my game after, Corey Seager. He was my favorite player growing up. It's kind of a good comparison," said Henderson then.

In mid May this year Henderson was batting .170 with a .651 OPS. It was at about that point that he got less picky about the strikes he was hitting, and he stopped looking to get that perfect pitch. He didn’t expand his zone but maybe he expanded the zone of pitches he would offer at. The results proved him right.

He would go on to set an O’s rookie record with 66 extra-base hits and his OPS+ was 125. After that slow start into mid-May, his OPS was .849 his last 117 games.

On his way to winning the Most Valuable Oriole award, he led MLB rookies with 6.3 Wins Above Replacement per baseball-reference.com and also led them in home runs and extra-base hits.

Among all AL position players, just Marcus Semien (7.4) and Seager (6.9) of Texas produced more bWAR although he ranked 12^th in the league in fWAR. There he is again linked with Seager. But this time it was not in what he could be, but what he has become as a big leaguer.

This season he became the Orioles rookie ever with 25 homers and 100 runs and the first rookie in the AL to do that since Mike Trout in 2012 (30 HRs, 129 runs).

When your name is linked to the likes of Ripken, Seager and Trout, Henderson is keeping the very best company. Like the organization he represents, his future seems exceedingly bright.