Baltimore Orioles rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson made a remarkable hustle play Thursday, turning a ground ball into a triple against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In the top of the fourth inning, Henderson smacked a sharp ground ball to left off Rays’ starter Tyler Glasnow, which glanced off third baseman Taylor Walls’ glove before skidding into the outfield. While left fielder Randy Arozarena tracked down the ball nonchalantly, Henderson zoomed around second, sliding head-first into third just ahead of the tag.
Henderson’s extra effort on the base paths led to a three-run inning or the O’s. Following the triple, Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman singled Henderson home before a Ryan O’Hearn sacrifice fly and an Aaron Hicks RBI base hit led to two more runs.
Entering Thursday night’s action, Henderson ranked second among rookies with 15 home runs, trailing only Francisco Alvarez, Corbin Carroll and Josh Jung, who all have 19 long balls. Meanwhile, Henderson is fourth in triples (4) and sixth in RBI (41).
The 22-year-old entered the season as the top-ranked prospect in all of baseball and has impressed in his first full season. He has already made franchise history and is in the running for American League Rookie of the Year. Henderson has the second-best odds to win the award (+300), behind only Jung and Masataka Yoshida (+200), per Oddschecker.
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