Elias on Henderson: "It was about as meteoric of a season as you’ll see"

Each game that Gunnar Henderson plays and each night that he remains in the lineup for a team chasing its playoff dreams, the more fortunate the Orioles must feel that their draft board in 2019 didn’t prove completely accurate. That they would be the organization to select a player who, three years later, grew into baseball’s No. 1 prospect.

Henderson was expected to go in the first round, but he kept tumbling until the Oriole caught a falling star.

That was the first big break.

They still had to sign him, and he already committed to Auburn University, where older brother Jackson played. The choosing was the easy part of the process.

The sides agreed to a $2.3 million bonus, more than $500,000 above the slot value. Henderson was 17 years old when he signed his contract.

“He was a player that, in 2019, our scouting staff had very firmly in the first round on our board and he just kept falling toward our 42^nd pick, and I wasn’t 100 percent sure that he was going to be signable at that pick,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias recently said. “We were able to get on the phone and ensure that he had strong interest in signing with us at that pick, and it was kind of down to the wire. Once we got the indication that he’d be inclined toward signing, we took him, and I think it’s been a very fortuitous thing for him and for us that we got that pick and he landed in the right organization.

“I know he has a younger brother (Cade) who’s a big Orioles fan, and that was exciting for the family when he came in to sign. I just remember from his press conference on forward how impressed we were with his maturity, and he turned out to be one of the very hardest workers in the organization, which you never know when you draft a kid. That’s obviously great. And not surprisingly, he’s been one of the very best athletes in the organization. We knew that going in, given what we saw on the field and his basketball exploits coming out of high school.”

There were the anticipated growing pains, beginning at the alternate site in 2020 as an 18-year-old hitter facing major league pitching. But the tough times revealed something else about Henderson, which scouts might have missed because, honestly, how often did he fail in high school?

“He struggled at first, and by the end of it, he was hitting .220 with a .700 OPS against the competition there. We were all extraordinarily impressed with the way he didn’t get discouraged and kind of picked it up over the course of that camp,” Elias said.

“I think in particular our hitting department, Anthony Villa, Ryan Fuller, those guys have done a lot to really help him smooth out his swing mechanics, because he’s always had a pretty good eye and pretty good bat to ball skills and power. We are obviously very proud of him. Even prouder that he’s going to be in the organization for hopefully the rest of this decade.”

The first few weeks of Henderson’s major league life have backed all the hype. He’s that good. And he’s that polite, addressing team employees and media as “sir” and “ma’am.” Range in age is insignificant. That’s just how he was raised.

The Orioles begin a huge three-game series tonight against the Blue Jays in Toronto, and Henderson will be in the lineup again for his 15^th major league game. He’s batting .320/.370/.520 (16-for-50) with five doubles, one triple, one home run, nine RBIs, and a couple helmets flying off his head before he found one that fit.

Henderson has collected hits in 11 of his 14 games. He had a career-high four RBIs Wednesday night at Nationals Park.

The same swing, speed and physical presence that created a .297/.416/.531 line between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, with 24 doubles, seven triples, 19 home runs, 76 RBIs, 79 walks and 22 stolen bases. He's having a similar impact to Adley Rutschman after the catcher's promotion in May.

Baseball America chose Henderson as the Orioles’ Minor League Player of the Year, and he’s a strong candidate to receive the publication’s overall honor.

“I can’t say enough about how proud we are of what he’s done this far in his young pro career and especially this season,” Elias said. “It was about as meteoric of a season as you’ll see. Anytime a guy goes across three levels and excels at each one, and especially when that third level is the major leagues, it bodes very, very well for the future.”

The Orioles expected outfielder Colton Cowser to move quickly through the system after being the fifth-overall pick last year out of Sam Houston State. The polished college hitter, with the kind of profile they covet. But Henderson was a wild card before the Orioles started chasing one this season.

“Don’t forget he missed a year, too, in the minor leagues, so you could almost have envisioned this sometime last year without that,” Elias said. “But it’s weird with high school kids. When you pick the right one, they move as fast or faster than the college players sometimes. That’s just the nature of being a prodigious talent. So, when you hit on the right guy, the timeline kind of goes out the window. I know the Orioles had that with Manny Machado, and I think we have that again.

“We were attracted to him because of his youth. Kind of a slam dunk, left side of the infield tools that he showed, and the power and the swing and the athleticism. And with high school kids you just never know what those hitting stats are going to look like until they get out there and go do it. Fortunately, I think we landed on a guy with the right head on his shoulders to adapt to everything that pro ball has thrown at him so far, and I think he’ll continue to do that.”

* The Orioles are starting Jordan Lyles, Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer in Toronto. The Blue Jays are listing their starters as TBA, José Berríos and Alek Manoah.

* The Orioles released Norfolk infielder Kelvin Gutiérrez from the Norfolk roster, according to the minor league transactions page.

Gutiérrez was the starting third baseman on opening day but appeared in only 12 games, going 4-for-28, before the Orioles designated him for assignment on May 2. He was batting .242/.315/.384 in 60 games with Norfolk.