For the second straight season, an Orioles player will take part in the Home Run Derby.
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson announced Sunday that he will participate in one of the most exciting events on the baseball calendar during a segment on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” Henderson, who wore a mic in the third inning of Baltimore’s game against the Texas Rangers, will follow in catcher Adley Rutschman’s footsteps.
“Watching it as a kid growing up, seemed like something that would be pretty cool,” Henderson said postgame. “To have that opportunity is pretty special.”
Henderson first expressed his interest in competing in the Home Run Derby this month to The Baltimore Banner.
“I’d like to think I’d be good at it, but I’d have to work on my BP [batting practice] homers,” Henderson continued. “I can hit them in the game, but I still have to work on my BP homers, I guess. It definitely would be a cool thing to do.”
Henderson is second in the majors with 26 home runs. Few batters hit the ball consistently as hard as Henderson, whose 94 mph average exit velocity is in the 98th percentile of the majors. His hard-hit percentage of 57.5% is in the top 1%.
The 23-year-old Henderson said he talked with Rutschman about the experience and came away thinking he would like to try it. Henderson doesn’t know yet who will throw to him in the derby.
“I’m going to pick his brain a little bit,” Henderson said of Rutschman.
Rutschman impressed at the Home Run Derby by cranking home runs as a switch hitter. He didn’t make it past the opening round because the Chicago White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr., the top seed, narrowly beat him. But the experience, which included his dad, Randy, throwing the pitches, lived up to everything Rutschman had dreamt of.
“Yesterday was definitely the most amped I was for this whole thing, just ’cause it was kind of a solo show with me and Pops. But it went well, we enjoyed it, it was unbelievable,” Rutschman said at the time. “After the three minutes were up, it was like, ‘Wow, we did it.’”
The Home Run Derby takes place July 15 at 8 p.m. from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
There will be new rules for the event this year. ESPN announced the new format Sunday. It does away with head-to-head matchups and instead pits eight hitters against each other, with the top four advancing.
“That’ll be interesting,” Henderson said of the format change.
