Engaged, fiancée's name is Katherine Lee. The couple got engaged in February 2024...Is good friends with teammates Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle...His dad built a baseball field behind their house when Gunnar was growing up...Used his signing bonus to build a batting cage on his parents' property...Attended John T. Morgan (Ala.) Academy...Named the Gatorade Alabama Baseball Player of the Year in 2019...In high school was a three-year letter winner in basketball (forward) and a one-year letter winner in football (quarterback)...In the offseason helps train his younger brother Cade, who also plays baseball...Before signing with the Orioles was committed to Auburn University (Ala.) where his older brother Jackson played...One of his favorite things about being home is his mom's cooking...His whole family is Auburn Tigers fans but his mom grew up an Alabama fan...Participated in the 2023 and 2020 Birdland Caravans...Participated in the 2023 Orioles Health and Fitness Challenge at Sarasota Middle School...Made his MLB debut on 8/31/22 at CLE and homered for his first career hit...Enjoys hunting in the offseason...Has a German Wirehaired Pointer named Chief...Likes country and rock music...Some of his favorite artists are Mötley Crüe and Elvis.
2023
Slashed .255/.325/.489 (143-for-560) with 29 doubles, nine triples, 28 home runs, 100 runs, 82 RBI, 56 walks (one IBB) and 10 stolen bases in 150 games (143 starts) with the O’s...Unanimously voted the BBWAA American League Rookie of the Year becoming the first unanimous winner in Orioles history. Became the first Orioles winner since Gregg Olson (1989) and seventh overall joining Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982), Eddie Murray (1977), Al Bumbry (1973), Curt Blefary (1965) and Ron Hansen (1960)...Voted MLB Players Choice AL Outstanding Rookie and Baseball Digest/eBay AL Rookie of the Year...Earned his first AL Silver Slugger at the utility position, becoming the first O's rookie to win the award...Named to to Baseball America's Major League All-Rookie Team and Baseball Digest/eBay's MLB Rookie All-Star Team...Voted the winner of the 2023 Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award by members of the local media who cover the team on a regular basis. Became the fourth rookie to be named the winner of the award since its inception in 1954 joining RHP Gregg Olson (1989), RHP Rodrigo López (2002) and C Adley Rutschman (2022)...Set O’s rookie records with 66 extra-base hits, 100 runs, 6.3 bWAR and a .489 slugging percentage. Became the fourth rookie to lead the Orioles in runs, joining Cal Ripken, Jr. (90, 1982), Willie Tasby (69, 1959) and Tito Francona (62, 1956)...Became the fourth AL rookie since 2002 to score 100 runs, joining NYY's Aaron Judge (128, 2017), LAA's Mike Trout (129, 2012) and DET's Austin Jackson (103, 2010)...Became the first rookie in team history and 20th in MLB history with 20+ doubles, 5+ triples, 20+ homers and 10+ steals...Led MLB rookies in bWAR (6.3), home runs (28) and extra-base hits (66) and led AL rookies in fWAR (4.6), triples (nine), runs (100), RBI (82) and total bases (274)...Led the Orioles with 13 DRS (10 at SS, 3 at 3B) per Sports Info Solutions...Was the third O’s rookie with 25+ doubles and 25+ homers, joining Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982) and Eddie Murray (1977)...His 210 hard-hit balls were the fourth-most by an Oriole in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008)...His three go-ahead homers in the seventh inning-or-later were tied with Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982), Ron Hansen (1960) and Tito Francona (1956) for the most by an O’s rookie...Appeared on his first Opening Day roster...Graduated from prospect status on 4/5. Entered the 2023 season ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline...Became the fifth Oriole since 2000 with at least 10 walks through his first 10 games of the season and the first since Chris Davis in 2016. His six walks through the team’s first three games were tied for the most in O’s history with Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1985...Nine of his 17 hits in May went for extra bases (4-2B, 2-3B, 3 HR)...Mashed a three-run home run in the seventh inning on 6/11 vs. KC that traveled 462 feet and landed on Eutaw Street, the first such homer of his career. Marked the 120th Eutaw Street homer in ballpark history and 57th by an Oriole...Named the AL Player of the Week on 6/12. Slashed .526/.550/1.053 (10-for-19) with one double, three home runs, five runs, six RBI, one walk and two stolen bases in five games during the period from 6/5-11. Became the first Oriole to earn the honor since Ryan Mountcastle from 5/31-6/6/21...Slugged his first career grand slam on 6/13 vs. TOR becoming the 17th rookie in O’s history (since 1954) to hit a grand slam and the first since Ryan Mountcastle on 5/22/21 at WSH...Hit a bases-clearing triple on 6/28 vs. CIN...Marked the second bases-loaded triple by an O’s batter this year (Santander, 5/30 vs. CLE) and the fastest home-to-third time (11.43 sec) by an O’s batter in 2023 per Statcast...Named AL Rookie of the Month for June, his first career monthly honor. Slashed .320/.354/.640 (24-for-75). Led AL rookies for the month in homers (six), RBI (16), slugging and OPS (.994) and ranked among AL rookies in total bases (second, 48), extra-base hits (T-second, 11), triples (T-second, 1) and batting average (third)...Went 4-for-7 with two homers, three runs and five RBI on 7/6 at NYY. Set career highs in hits and RBI and tied career bests with four times on base and runs scored. Notched his first career leadoff home run and logged first multi-homer game. Became the youngest O’s batter (22-007) with two homers since Manny Machado (20-082) on 9/26/12 vs. TOR and the youngest on the road since Eddie Murray (21-219) on 10/1/77 at BOS...Tallied an XBH in four straight games from 7/29-8/1, tied for the longest such streak of his career (also: 9/13-17/22)...Finished a single shy of the cycle on 8/20 at OAK, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, one triple, one home run, three runs and two RBI. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, it marked the 44th individual game in MLB history with multiple doubles, a triple and a home run and the first such game since NYM’s David Wright on 6/23/13 at PHI. At 22 years and 52 days old, Henderson was the second-youngest player with such a game after DET’s Al Kaline (21-194) on 6/30/56 at KC. Became just the second Oriole to post such a stat line, along with Don Baylor on 4/6/73 vs. MIL...Owned a career-high 11-game hitting streak from 8/14-26...Selected as the winner of the Electric Play of the Week presented by Chevrolet for his basket catch and assist on 9/1 at ARI...Hit his second career leadoff homer (also: 7/6/23 at NYY) and 28th long ball of the season on 9/26 vs. WSH. Drove in his 100th career RBI with the blast. Became the first O’s rookie with multiple leadoff home runs in a season since Cedric Mullins (2018)...Made his postseason debut, starting all three games of the ALDS vs. TEX and going 6-for-12 with a home run, three runs scored, two RBI and a walk...Launched his first career postseason home run in Game 2 of the ALDS vs. TEX, becoming the youngest Oriole (22-101) to homer in the playoffs since Manny Machado (20-096) on 10/10/12 at NYY (ALDS G3). Became the third O's rookie to homer in the postseason, joining Machado and Ryan Flaherty (also 10/10/12 at NYY - ALDS G3).
2022
Began the season with Double-A Bowie; transferred to Triple-A Norfolk on 6/6; had contract selected by Baltimore on 8/31...Batted .297/.416/.531 (121-for-407) with 24 doubles, seven triples, 19 home runs, 101 runs, 76 RBI, 79 walks, nine hit-by-pitches and 22 stolen bases in 112 games between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk; ranked second in the minors in runs at time of promotion...Hit for the cycle with Norfolk on 6/28 vs. Gwinnett, a day before his 21st birthday, becoming the first Tides batter since Timo Perez on 6/9/00 to hit for the cycle and the first Norfolk batter to hit the cycle since the club became an Orioles affiliate in 2007...Made his MLB debut on 8/31 at CLE; at 21 years, 63 days, was the youngest player to make their debut for the Orioles since Dylan Bundy (19-313) on 9/23/12 and youngest position player since Manny Machado (20-034) on 8/9/12; became the fourth player and first left-handed hitter in O's history (since 1954) to homer in his debut (last: Jonathan Schoop, 9/25/12 vs. TOR) and the youngest player in franchise history to hit a home run in his debut; became the 21st player in Orioles history to record at least two hits in his debut...Became the first player in franchise history to start each of his first three MLB games at three different positions (3B, SS, 2B), per the Elias Sports Bureau...At the time of his debut, was the youngest player on any MLB team's 40-man roster...Became one of five players in O's history with at least 24 hits in his first 20 career games and one of six players with at least 15 RBI in his first 20 games...Homered and reached base four times on 9/26 at BOS; became the youngest O's player (21-089) to reach base four times with a home run since Boog Powell (21-007) on 8/24/62 (G2) vs. NYY...Named the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year and MLB Pipeline Hitting Prospect of the Year...Selected to the 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on 7/16 at Dodger Stadium; batted leadoff and finished 0-for-1 with a walk and two runs for the American League...Earned Eastern League Player of the Week with Bowie twice; batted .529/.600.765 (9-for-17) with one double, one homer, five runs, four RBI, two walks, one hit-by-pitch and four stolen bases in five games from 5/3-5/8; slashed .476/.500/.857 (10-for-21) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, three runs, seven RBI, one walk and one hit-by-pitch in five games from 5/31-6/5...Named Orioles Minor League Player of the Month for May; hit .333/.462/.617 (27-for-81) with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs, 23 runs, 16 RBI, 19 walks, two hit-by-pitches and six stolen bases in 24 games, all with Bowie...Enters the 2023 season as the No. 1 overall prospect according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, FanGraphs, and MLB Pipeline.
2021
Participated in the team's Fall Instructional League camp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla...Finished the year ranked as the Orioles No 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline...Appeared in 105 games between Low-A Delmarva, High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, where he finished the year...Slashed .258/.350/.476 (103-for-399) with 17 home runs, 28 doubles, 74 RBI and 68 runs scored in his first full season of professional baseball...Hit .312/.369/.574 (44-for-141) with eight home runs, 11 doubles, and 39 RBI in 35 games with Low-A Delmarva before being promoted to High-A Aberdeen...Named the Low-A East Player of the Month in May, slashing 313/.391/.613 with a Low-A East league-leading 30 RBI over 20 games; he tallied three five-RBI games in the month...Named the Low-A East Player of the Week for the week of May 10-16 going 10-for-23 (.435) with four doubles, a home run, 13 RBI and seven runs scored...Named a non-roster invitee for Major League Spring Training.
2020
Participated in the team's Fall Instructional League camp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla....Spent the season at the Alternate Training Site at Double-A Bowie... Entered the season ranked as the No. 7 Orioles prospect, according to Baseball America.
2019
Began his professional career with the GCL Orioles...Appeared in 29 games, slashing .259/.331/.370 (28-for-108) with eight extra-base hits...Made 21 starts at shortstop.