Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson will participate in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on July 15. The former Morgan Academy standout broke the news himself during the top of the third inning of the Orioles’ American League game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday night.
Interviewed on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” between pitches while in the field for Baltimore, Henderson said he “thought it would be pretty cool” to be in the Home Run Derby and announced he’d be there, becoming the first known participant of the eight big-leaguers who will swing for the fences.
Entering Sunday’s game, only one player in the Major Leagues had more home runs than Henderson’s 26 – New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge with 31.
The T-Mobile Home Run Derby will be held at 7 p.m. CDT July 15 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. ESPN and MLB Network will televise the event.
The next night, the MLB All-Star Game will be played at Globe Life Field, and Henderson has an opportunity to be the starting shortstop for the American League.
In Phase 1 of online fan voting for the MLB All-Star Game, Henderson led AL shortstops with 2,664,120 votes, which ranked as the seventh-most among all players.
Judge and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper were the top vote-getters in the American and National leagues, respectively, and received spots in the starting lineup. For the other positions, fans will decide between the players who were in the top two in the voting at each position in each league.
In Phase 2 voting, Henderson is matched against Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.
Fans can vote in Phase 2 online through 11 a.m. CDT Wednesday. The starting lineups for the 94th MLB All-Star Game will be announced at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Henderson was Alabama’s Mr. Baseball for 2019, and the Orioles selected him from his Selma high school in the second round of the draft that year. In 2023, Henderson won the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award in the American League by unanimous vote.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
