The accolades keep pouring in for the Orioles.
A day after and just hours after Adley Rutschman announced he will be , two Baltimore players received monthly awards by Major League Baseball.
Infielder Gunnar Henderson and closer Félix Bautista were both recognized by the league for their impressive performances in June. Henderson was named the AL Rookie of the Month, while Bautista was picked as the AL Reliever of the Month.
Henderson was Baltimore’s best hitter in June, stepping up after leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins, the Orioles’ top offensive performer through the first two months, landed on the injured list. The 21-year-old slashed .320/.354/.640 — good for a .994 OPS — with four doubles, six home runs, 16 RBIs and three stolen bases.
He is the first Oriole to win the award since Ryan Mountcastle in June 2021 and the sixth since MLB began handing out monthly awards, joining Rodrigo López (July 2002), Nick Markakis (August 2006), Nolan Reimold (June 2009) and Brian Matusz (August 2010).
Henderson opened the season as the consensus No. 1 prospect in the sport, but stumbled out of the gate. While displaying an impressive batting eye and keen plate discipline, Henderson struggled making consistent contact and was hitting below .200 for the vast majority of the season’s first two months.
He started to heat up in late May and then broke out in the second week of June, hitting .526 with a whopping 1.603 OPS to earn AL Player of the Week honors. He capped off the best week of his career with a majestic home run at Camden Yards estimated at 462 feet — the farthest ever hit onto Eutaw Street.
“It’s definitely going through those struggles, it just goes to show you that you’re going to get through it at some point and just stick with the process of it,” Henderson said. “I feel like that’s been a big thing that I’ve learned so far.”
On the season, Henderson is hitting .239 with a .794 OPS, and his 1.7 wins above replacement on FanGraphs ranks fourth on the team.
Bautista, meanwhile, was recognized as the top reliever in the Junior Circuit for the second month this season. After earning the award in April, Bautista was his usual dominant self in June, tallying seven saves and allowing just one run in 10 2/3 innings. He struck out 22 of the 39 batters he faced in June for a strikeout rate of 56.4%.
“I think I’ve just been doing a great job pitching overall right now,” Bautista said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I think we’re seeing all the fruits of my labor come to fruition and seeing all of that hard work finally paying off.”
Bautista on Sunday was one of the four players, along with Rutschman, outfielder Austin Hays and setup man Yennier Cano, to be named AL All-Stars for the first time in their careers. The 6-foot-8 right-hander is on pace to shatter several MLB strikeout records, including the strikeouts-per-nine-innings record that Aroldis Chapman set in 2014. Chapman struck out 17.7 batters per nine innings that year; Bautista this year is striking out 18.4.
While he’s been dominant all season, June was perhaps the best month of his career as he upped the punchouts and lowered the walks. He did not issue a free pass in the month after walking 17 over the first two.
“It’s the ability to get ahead and count, to be unpredictable a little bit with the heater and the split, and now he’s throwing a slider, too,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “That’s a third thing that they have to think about, so it’s 102 [mph] with a tough split and now an occasional slider. He’s throwing some get-me-over sliders out of nowhere a little bit. Just a ton of confidence. Warmer weather. In April, there’s some kind of cool nights. You leave spring training, it’s different environments. It kind of takes guys a little bit to get going. He’s had a heck of a month.”
When Bautista first won the award, he was the first Oriole to do so since Jim Johnson in May 2012 when the honor was named the “Delivery Man of the Month” award. Now, he’s won it twice in one season.
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll was named the NL Rookie of the Month, while Philadelphia Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel won the Senior Circuit’s Reliever of the Month award.
Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were named their league’s respective Players of the Month. Boston Red Sox left-hander James Paxton and San Diego Padres southpaw Blake Snell were named the AL and NL Pitchers of the Month, respectively.
Baltimore Sun reporter Nathan Ruiz contributed to this story from New York.
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