Gunnar Henderson: Aberdeen struggles provide learning and growth

BOWIE - His bat was trending up at high Single-A Aberdeen after a very slow start with the IronBirds. But the Orioles' No. 4 prospect, young infielder Gunnar Henderson, did not expect he would end his season playing with the Double-A Bowie Baysox.

But there he was again in the lineup on Wednesday night at third base as the Baysox continued their quest for a playoff spot, one he gets to be a part of it in the final week of the regular season. He was promoted during Monday's off-day.

Henderson, who will not turn 21 until next June, has hit .258/.351/.480/.830 with 28 doubles, four triples, 17 homers and 74 RBIs over now three levels in the 2021 season, which began for him at low Single-A Delmarva. The player ranked No. 76 in the MLBPipeline.com top 100 and No. 81 on Baseball America's list ranks second on the O's farm in doubles, fourth in RBIs and fifth in homers and OPS.

In a handful of games this month, Henderson had hit .296/.424/.778 for Aberdeen, with six of his eight hits going for extra bases.

"I figured I would finish the season in Aberdeen," Henderson told me during a pregame interview yesterday at Bowie's Prince George's Stadium. "But felt like I was swinging it pretty well over the past month. I'm so fortunate to be able to come here and help them make a playoff push."

I asked him what the O's want out of him in what will be a short time in Bowie as 2021 wraps up, and what it is like to join a new team so late in the season.

"Oh, it's great," Henderson said. "Just the way they play and the way they go about things here, it's really fun. From the first day, all the coaches and players and all the camaraderie they have here is awesome to see.

"Just get the experience of making a playoff push and having that, I guess, a check mark on the list. Yeah, get used to playing in this atmosphere and, I guess, getting used to playing in Double-A."

Henderson has gone 1-for-8 with a double in his first three Bowie games.

Henderson has had some interesting baseball experiences this year, including one he went through for the first time. And that was hitting just .032 (1-for-31) with a .327 OPS through his first 11 games at Aberdeen. But he ended his time with Aberdeen with a .775 OPS. A strong finish.

But 1-for-31 was a first for him at any level or any time.

"You know, it was actually the best thing that could've happened," Henderson said. "Little League days, through high school and into pro ball, I never experienced anything like that. And when I moved up a level, I didn't know what to expect. Then I got hit with that.

"Now, looking back on it, I was trying to change things every day, and it just all turned when I was talking to Kathryn Rowe (the Orioles' mental skills coordinator). She helped me with all that and getting back to what got me there. As soon as we talked, I started hitting the ball more consistently. When I got the call here, I just told myself, 'Just keep what you have done all through the year and don't change anything.' It was a whole lot easier to get that first hit here than in Aberdeen. Really fun to see the progressions, and I will definitely take that to the future. To knock that out (those struggles) early was a real blessing."

Henderson never lost confidence that his bat would be productive for Aberdeen, but that talk with Rowe turned out to be a turning point for him.

"Sometimes you just need that person to tell you, 'Hey, just get back to what got you there.' Just go back to being simple, and it ended up real well. She would text about once a week to see how things were going and remind me to stay true to myself. That reminder has helped a lot."

When I was in Aberdeen recently, IronBirds manager Kyle Moore had similar thoughts about Henderson's early struggles with his team.

"It's been a great year for his development," Moore said at Ripken Stadium. "A year of adversity, I would say, for him. He's struggled some, but we are all going to struggle at some point. Now he is going through learning how to control his emotions. Learning how not to give away at-bat three and four when one and two didn't go the way you wanted it to.

"The one thing he has done that I've been super proud of is he never let his offense bleed into his defense. Played outstanding defense. Third and short has been outstanding. Even if he struggled some nights, he would still make a diving play and turn a double play. The other night he was 0-for-4, but he slid to his forehand side to turn a double play to end the game.

"It's been a year where he learned some tough lessons, and I think you'll see it pay off for him next year."

When Henderson left Aberdeen his OPS was trending in the right direction. He made up a lot of ground.

"To make it back that far from the start I had just goes to show, it doesn't matter how low you are," he said. "You can still turn it around. Just keep taking it one day at a time."

Henderson said that experience, going through the struggles, will be so valuable to him moving forward.

"One of my biggest goals I set before the season: I wanted to become the most experienced, young baseball player I can. That was a tough one, but it was a good experience," he said.

Rodriguez rolling again, Bowie winning again: The season gets longer, but Bowie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez just remains very consistent and very good. He threw another strong game for the Baysox last night as they beat Altoona 5-4 in 10 innings to close in on a playoff berth.

Over five innings, Rodriguez allowed four hits and one run with no walks and five strikeouts on 68 pitches. He was on his way to a win, but the Baysox allowed a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth to tie the game. But over his past three games, Rodriguez has given up just one run in 13 innings.

Toby Welk hit a walk-off single for Bowie in the last of the 10th as the Baysox won their 10th straight game to get to 71-45. Bowie has won seven of its games during the win streak by either two runs or one, including all three in the series with Altoona.

Bowie with 3 of O's top 6 prospect on the field tonight. Grayson (2) on the mound, Gunnar (4) at third and Westburg (6) at SS. pic.twitter.com/KXTvVj6oaM

-- Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) September 15, 2021