A bat flip ... after walking? Gunnar enjoys the stroll to first

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 -- Gunnar Henderson says he enjoys getting walked. When a pitcher delivers ball four, the Orioles’ 22-year-old shortstop is happy to make the 90-foot trot to first base.

“Honestly, for me, I treat them as good as a hit,” said Henderson, who drew 29 walks over the team’s first 55 games. “I’m on base for the guy behind me, and I like running the bases, too.”

If that’s the case, then why does Henderson chuck his bat so aggressively every time he walks?

You may have noticed this season that Henderson is disposing of his lumber in a more assertive fashion after the home-plate umpire calls ball four.

If the Orioles are in the third-base dugout at a road ballpark, Henderson will take the top of his bat with his right hand and flip it end over end through both batter’s boxes, well past the surrounding dirt and into the grass near the on-deck circle.

If the O’s are in the first-base dugout -- as they are at Camden Yards and some road parks -- Henderson rapidly swings his bat horizontally, sometimes nearly all the way to the railing next to the steps where manager Brandon Hyde is frequently perched.

“It’s almost hit me a couple times. Maybe he’s mad at me,” Hyde said with a laugh. “It’s an aggressive walk. I haven’t asked him if it’s irritation. I’m not sure what it is. But I like it.”

Henderson recently offered an explanation for his unique post-walk bat flips. And no, it’s not because he’s mad at Hyde, the pitcher who walked him or anybody else.

“I think it kind of stemmed from how quick the game’s going and just trying to get to first base as quick as I can and just help the guy who’s getting the bats and stuff. He doesn’t have to run as far,” Henderson said. “The game definitely speeds up on you, so I just try to get there as quick as I can and not have to wait on the guy to come get the bat and stuff.”

The speed of Henderson’s bat tosses following walks has visibly increased since 2022, when he made his Major League debut and played in 34 games. That came before MLB implemented a 30-second timer between batters ahead of the ‘23 season. So his reasoning makes sense.

Not only is Henderson making the batboy’s life easier, but he’s getting out of the way for the next hitter leaving the on-deck circle for the batter’s box and preparing for an at-bat. His teammates have noticed, by the way.

In fact, James McCann recently debuted his own Henderson-esque bat toss after a walk. The 33-year-old catcher drew his first walk in his 81st plate appearance of the season during Wednesday’s 6-1 win over the Red Sox.

McCann’s two-out walk loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning, and he emphatically threw his bat toward Baltimore’s dugout -- not too far from Henderson, who was standing in the on-deck circle at the time.

“I actually was locked in. I didn’t see it, so I had to go back and watch it on the iPad,” said Henderson, who immediately followed McCann’s walk with a tiebreaking grand slam. “It was pretty funny. That was his first one of the year, so it was a good one.”

Henderson has been getting more opportunities for bat tosses of his own. His walk rate nearly tripled from March/April (eight in 132 plate appearances, 6.1%) to May (21 in 116 plate appearances, 18.1%).

That’s what happens when you’re a hitter who’s been as locked in as Henderson, whose 18 home runs entering June were tied with Houston's Kyle Tucker for second most in MLB.

“I think teams are definitely being careful with him,” Hyde said. “He’s so dangerous at the plate that I know that teams don’t want to miss middle part. He’s doing a really good job at taking walks and not expanding the strike zone, but being ready when he gets something he can drive. I really like the at-bats he’s taking.”

But Hyde knows he’ll need to watch out for flying bats if Henderson continues to walk this much.

“Just be in an athletic stance every time [there’s] a ball four,” Hyde joked. “I have to be ready.”