Henderson, Bradish and O'Hearn finalists for MLBPA awards

Awards season is upon us despite the leagues competing to determine who competes in the World Series.

The Orioles' Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Bradish and Ryan O’Hearn are finalists for the Major League Baseball Players Association’s Players Choice Awards. The announcement was made earlier today.

As the name suggests, the players handle the voting.

Henderson is competing with the Rangers’ Josh Jung and the Red Sox’s Triston Casas for the American League’s Outstanding Rookie honor.

Bradish is competing against the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole and the Twins’ Sonny Gray for AL Outstanding Pitcher. And O’Hearn is a finalist for AL Comeback Player along with Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow and White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks.

The winners will be announced on Nov. 2 on ESPN.

Henderson is the favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He batted .255/.325/.489 with 29 doubles, nine triples, 28 home runs and 82 RBIs in 150 games, and went 6-for-12 in the Division Series.

Henderson closed out the regular season by leading major league rookies with a 6.2 bWAR and AL rookies with a 4.8 fWAR.

He should be a lock for the MLBPA award.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle was the last Orioles rookie to win it in 2021.

Cole is the likely BBWAA Cy Young Award winner, but Bradish registered a 2.83 ERA that ranked fourth in the majors and a 1.04 WHIP that tied for third. Bradish had a 2.34 ERA after the break that led the AL and was second in the majors behind San Diego’s Blake Snell (1.54).

O’Hearn could join Trey Mancini in 2021 as Orioles recently chosen as Comeback Player. He was designated for assignment two days after they acquired him from the Royals on Jan. 3, had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk on April 13 and batted .289/.322/.480 with 22 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 60 RBIs in 112 games while mainly hitting in the middle of the order.

Hendriks made five appearances with the White Sox after his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December. Glasnow underwent Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2021, started twice in 2022 and went 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA and 1.083 WHIP in 21 games this year.

Also, former Orioles outfielder Phil Bradley is a finalist for the Curt Flood Award that recognizes a player who “in the image of Flood demonstrated a selfless, longtime devotion to the Players Association and advancement of Players’ rights.”