Henderson’s stellar rookie season ends in AL Divisional series
Published 5:57 am Thursday, October 12, 2023
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Gunnar Henderson’s rookie season ended Tuesday in the American League Divisional Series.
Henderson’s team, the Baltimore Orioles, were swept by the Texas Rangers in the Best-of-5 ALDS.
Henderson, a former Morgan Academy Prep All-American, played well in the Game 3 defeat, collecting three hits and a RBI single.
In the first two games, Henderson played well. He played well defensively in Game 1.
In Game 2, Henderson homered and scored three runs.
In the series, Henderson was 6-for-12 with a homer and two RBIs.
Henderson, 22, told Masnsportss.com after the game that he wanted the season to keep going.
“It’s not how you want to end the season,” Henderson said. “I feel like we fought till the end and just didn’t work out in our favor.”
Henderson sees better days ahead for the Orioles, who captured the AL Eastern Division title and won 101 regular-season games.
“We made a big step in the right direction and definitely going to be a platform for us to continue to play this type of baseball,” Henderson said. “Hate that it ended that way, but there’s good that can come out of this. We can use it as fuel for next year. Just don’t want to feel this feeling again, so I’m sure everybody’s going to have that on their minds going into the offseason and especially into next year.”
Henderson made an immediate impact as a rookie. He will be voted Rookie of the Year in the American League.
Baltimore Orioles’ Color Analyst Ben McDonald predicts that Henderson will be a household name in MLB in two years.
Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said he was proud of the team for overcoming odds this year.
“We were supposed to win 76 games. Won 101, won the American League East,” Hyde said. “Really proud of our group. They defied all the odds. Nobody gave us a chance. These guys played their butts off for six months. We just didn’t play well for these last three, unfortunately. And it’s definitely a successful season and these guys are going to be really good going forward.”