In the wake of Adley Rutschman’s slow start in the majors and Grayson Rodriguez’s lat injury, the Orioles offered some good player development news Monday with the promotions of top infield prospects Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg to Triple-A Norfolk.
Now regarded as the organization’s top hitting prospect with Rutschman having arrived in Baltimore, Henderson batted .312 with eight home runs, 11 doubles, three triples, 35 runs batted in, 41 walks, 38 strikeouts, and a 1.025 on-base plus slugging percentage in 208 plate appearances for the Baysox this season. The 2019 second-round pick ranked eighth or better in the Eastern League in batting average (fourth), OPS (second), RBIs (third), runs (first), hits (seventh), triples (seventh), walks (second), and stolen bases (eighth) this season.
Not turning 21 until the end of this month, Henderson currently ranks as the No. 46 prospect in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 list and will now get to see how his significant development strides translate at the final level before the majors. Not only are the Orioles hoping to see the 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-handed batter continue to have success at the plate, but the question of where he’ll play remains to be seen after he split time at shortstop and third base with Bowie. General manager Mike Elias recently spoke about Henderson’s impressive combination of power and walk-to-strikeout ratio while acknowledging he was still playing at the Double-A level.
For an organization that’s focused so heavily on drafting college hitters, developing a raw high school talent like Henderson into an impact major leaguer in just a few years would be an encouraging sign for their process.
“He was going to be sort of a player development project when we got him and has been to me like a flagship aspect of what our player development group is doing on the hitting side,” Elias said last month. “He’s done a lot of work to improve his swing mechanics since he’s been here, and he’s rapidly physically and mentally maturing. Now, he’s 20 years old, [and] he’s kind of turning into an adult. So, it’s awesome seeing the start he’s having in Double-A.”
The 30th overall pick of the 2020 draft out of Mississippi State, Westburg may not have the same ceiling as Henderson since he’s already 23, but he overcome a slow start in April to earn his Triple-A promotion. The 6-foot-3, 203-pound infielder batted .247 with nine homers, 14 doubles, 32 RBIs, 26 walks, 57 strikeouts, and an .817 OPS for the Baysox this season, and he’s posted a .283 average, 14 extra-base hits, and an .863 OPS since May 1. Like Henderson, Westburg has moved around the diamond and made at least 13 starts at short, third, and second base for Bowie this season.
MLB Pipeline ranks Westburg as the Orioles’ sixth-best prospect.
