Why Henderson, Hyde should win '23 BBWAA awards

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- It’s been nearly a decade since an Orioles representative won one of the four awards handed out by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America at the conclusion of each season. In 2014, Buck Showalter was named American League Manager of the Year.

The drought should be over soon.

This year, Gunnar Henderson is one of the three finalists for AL Rookie of the Year, and Brandon Hyde was named a finalist for AL Manager of the Year. The Rookie of the Year Award winners will be announced Monday, followed by the Manager of the Year recipients on Tuesday (each at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network).

Henderson and Hyde could both win, but at the least, one of them should. Here’s a breakdown of their cases to become BBWAA award recipients.

Henderson for AL ROY

Other finalists: Cleveland RHP Tanner Bibee, Boston 1B Triston Casas

Henderson has already been named AL Rookie of the Year by both Sporting News and Baseball Digest. On Monday, the 22-year-old Orioles infielder should add the BBWAA honor to his growing list of accolades (which also includes his first career Silver Slugger Award, won in the utility category).

The stats show why Henderson is widely considered the front-runner to receive this honor. He led all AL rookies in bWAR (6.2), fWAR (4.6), home runs (28), triples (nine), RBIs (82) and runs scored (100). Over 150 games, he slashed .255/.325/.489 and collected 66 extra-base hits.

Henderson put up those strong numbers despite a slow start to his first full big league season. After getting a 34-game taste of the Majors in 2022, his bat took some time to get going in ‘23, hitting .170 at the end of play on May 12.

In June, though, Henderson was named AL Rookie of the Month. His bat heated up with the weather, slashing .320/.354/.640 with six homers and 16 RBIs in 20 games. That month showed why many pegged him as the AL Rookie of the Year favorite heading into 2023.

On defense, Henderson provided consistent exceptional play on the left side of the infield. He ranked third among AL shortstops with 10 defensive runs saved, despite making only 64 starts and playing 584 2/3 innings there. Henderson also had three DRS at third base, where he made 68 starts and logged 594 2/3 innings.

Not only should Henderson be named AL Rookie of the Year, but he likely received some down-ballot votes for AL MVP. His 6.2 bWAR led the 101-win AL East champion Orioles and ranked fifth in the AL.

Hyde for AL MOY

Other finalists: Texas’ Bruce Bochy, Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash

“Nobody gave us a chance at the start of this year. Nobody,” Hyde said, when toasting his club’s AL East title on Sept. 28.

And the 50-year-old Baltimore skipper was right.

Entering the 2023 season, the Orioles were projected to go 80-82 by FanGraphs’ ZiPS system and 74-88 by Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system. Many pundits predicted Baltimore would not reach the postseason, even after it finished 83-79 in 2022.

Instead, the Orioles recorded an AL-high 101 wins to capture their first postseason berth since ‘16 and their first AL East championship since ‘14. They were one of only three MLB teams to reach the century mark in victories, along with the Braves (104-58) and Dodgers (100-62).

Hyde served as a great leader for a resilient Baltimore team that led MLB with 48 comeback wins, never lost more than four consecutive games and was never swept during the regular season. The Orioles’ streak of 91 consecutive multi-game regular-season series without getting swept (which dates back to May 2022) is the third longest in AL/NL history.

How rare is it for a Baltimore manager to guide the club to a 100-win season? Before Hyde, only one had accomplished the feat -- Hall of Famer Earl Weaver, who did so five times. The ‘23 O’s 101-61 campaign was the fifth best in team history, dating back to 1954.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the Orioles, who had been rebuilding since Hyde was hired prior to the 2019 season. They became the first team in AL/NL history to go from 110-plus losses (52-110 in ‘21) to 100-plus wins in a three-season span.