The Baltimore Orioles have one of the best Minor League farm systems in all of baseball, currently holding two players in the top-five prospects list in all of baseball as per MLB.com’s Top 100 prospect rankings.
They are currently fighting for a playoff spot in the American League, and they have made a move that will certainly shake up their roster and potentially put them in prime position to make a run at a Wild Card spot.
According to ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, the Orioles have called up shortstop prospect Gunnar Henderson to their major league team on Wednesday.
Henderson is currently ranked the second-best prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB.com’s rankings.
He has been extremely impressive this season in the minors, batting a combined .297/.416/.488 with 19 home runs between the Double-A and Triple-A levels this year.
Many around the MLB world are praising the Orioles’ decision to call Henderson up despite him being only 21 years of age. And many are excited to see what he can do at the highest level of the sport.
Gunnar Henderson will be the youngest Oriole to make his major league debut since Manny Machado in 2012. He's the youngest position player acquired via the draft to make his major league debut since Carlos Correa in 2015. https://t.co/ndXD6HCeZU
— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) August 31, 2022
So….
Currently on the Orioles' roster:
Adley Rutschman
Gunnar Henderson
Kyle Stowers
Terrin Vavra
Kyle BradishSet to join this week:
DL HallPossible to join by season's end:
Grayson RodriguezJust a call away:
Colton Cowser
Jordan Westburg
Joey Ortiz— Zach Silver (@zachsilver) August 31, 2022
Gunnar Henderson is coming to the BIG LEAGUES @Barstooldmv pic.twitter.com/dSa3CGQ5Ny
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) August 31, 2022
No playoff contender will be adding more post deadline talent than the Orioles will with the promotions of Gunnar Henderson and DL Hall.
This O's team is ready to make a final push and we'd be crazy to count them out.
— Aram Leighton (@AramLeighton8) August 31, 2022
THE O'S ARE CALLING UP MLB'S NO. 2 PROSPECT GUNNAR HENDERSON 🤩🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/7XYPevQ14B
— The Game Day MLB (@TheGameDayMLB) August 31, 2022
I’m almost a full year older than Gunnar Henderson, alrighty then https://t.co/M5bodYjyav
— Aidan Joly (@ByAidanJoly) August 31, 2022
With this call-up, Henderson (seen above during this year’s MLB All-Star Futures Game) will become the youngest player in MLB, beating out Detroit Tigers top prospect Riley Greene for that honor. Greene was also called up earlier this season.
It will certainly be interesting to see how much of an impact Henderson can make for Baltimore for the rest of the season.
Unlike a team like the Tigers who are well out of the playoff picture , the Orioles are very much in contention to potentially sneak into the playoffs, only sitting three games back for a playoff spot at the time of the transaction.
Past seasons have been a reminder that younger players can thrive at the MLB level, such as Julio Rodriguez with the Seattle Mariners, or Wander Franco with the Tampa Bay Rays last season.
Nothing is a guarantee in the MLB with top prospects flaming out all the time over the years. But Henderson has certainly proved in the minors that he is worthy of this opportunity in Baltimore.
[Jeff Passan on Twitter; photo from Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports]
