There were 41 players taken ahead of the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson in the 2019 MLB Draft. If they could re-do that draft today, that number would be very, very different.

At No. 42 the Orioles got a steal.

A driven young talent that rose to become the No. 1 prospect in the sport. He made the majors at age 21 and turned 22 last June 29. Later in the 2023 season he would be named the Most Valuable Oriole and in November he was the unanimous pick – getting all 30 first-place votes – to become the Orioles’ seventh American League Rookie of the Year.

When you think of what is still to come for this kid and how good he could become, you might ponder future MVP Awards and him leading the team to the top of the MLB world in some October down the road.

On the stat sheet we could ponder how much better the numbers could get for him.

When the Orioles played the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series, O’s shortstop Gunnar Henderson was in the opposite dugout from a player he has been compared to for several years.

The comps started well before Henderson would be selected No. 42 overall by the Orioles in the June 2019 MLB Draft. That big kid at shortstop from Alabama’s John T. Morgan Academy in Selma was compared to then Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who had been the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year.

In the 2012 MLB Draft, the Dodgers had selected Seager No. 18 overall out of a North Carolina high school. He was named NL ROY in his age 22 season. Henderson, who turned 22 in June, is the heavy favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award later this month.

The Henderson-Seager comps are still out there.

In early September, in a very flattering article on the Orioles for Sports Illustrated, Tom Verducci wrote that “Henderson has hit more homers (23) already than any 22-and-under rookie shortstop except Cal Ripken (28), Corey Seager (26) and Troy Tulowitzki (24). He is Seager with a better glove and more speed,” said Verducci.

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