There were times last season Buck Britton had to take a step back and realize what he was seeing. Then the manager of the Double-A Bowie Baysox, he watched Orioles top prospect Adley Rutschman play for 80 games. And over the course of those 80 games, the spectacular consistency from Rutschman would sometimes become less spectacular over time.
It was expected.
“We used to joke about it last year that it’s kind of boring, you know?” Britton said. “‘Cause he went 2-for-4, that’s what he was doing anyway; 1-for-3, drove in two runs. Like, I say that, it’s very impressive, but you know what you’re going to get from this guy. Adley was just being Adley today. It wasn’t like, ‘Wow, did you see Adley?’ You look at the numbers, you’re like, ‘Damn, this guy has been consistent the whole year.’”
That’s what stands out to many of those who have played with or coached Rutschman in the minor leagues. He’s the top prospect in all of baseball, a 24-year-old catcher who received his call-up to the Orioles (16-24) on Saturday — signaling the next and most significant step of the rebuild.
But beyond the glossy numbers — with an on-base percentage of .427 across three minor league levels this season — is an underlying beat that hardly moves the needle. His heart rate doesn’t soar. He’s not a spotlight-seeking star, even if the spotlight finds him anyway.
For the Orioles, that’s what makes them even more encouraged. The production is there. But the day-to-day consistency? That’s never in question.
“He’s a confident player,” Triple-A Norfolk outfielder and teammate Robert Neustrom said. “You see it in everything he does. He’s confident. He doesn’t stress too much. When he’s in the game, he’s locked in. I admire it, I know a lot of other people do, too. But I look up to the way he plays. And, man, he looks mid-swing.”
The call-up of Rutschman signals the next step in a rebuild that began in earnest in the midst of a franchise-record 115-loss season in 2018, setting up for the top selection in the 2019 draft. That’s when executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, in his first season in charge, chose Rutschman out of Oregon State.
The direction has always led to the majors. It might’ve come sooner had a tricep injury not sidelined Rutschman at the start of major league spring training. He needed to ramp back up, beginning with a rehabilitation assignment last month with High-A Aberdeen, where he caught left-hander DL Hall, another top prospect making a return from injury with eyes on the big leagues.
“Being able to throw to a good backstop like that is always a great feeling,” Hall said, “to know you have a top-tier guy back there that’s going to help you get some balls called strike.”
Rutschman rose the ranks quickly, making a cameo appearance with Double-A Bowie before joining Triple-A Norfolk. Across three levels, he hit .309 with a .942 OPS and more walks (11) than strikeouts (seven). Rutschman clubbed two home runs this week, but he also caught right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, the top pitching prospect in the majors.
In seven starts this season in which Rutschman is catching for Rodriguez or Hall, they’ve combined to post a 1.80 ERA and have struck out 39.8% of the batters they’ve faced. Without Rutschman, Rodriguez and Hall have a 5.11 ERA in six starts, with all but one of those outings by Rodriguez. They’ve still posted a 34.6% strikeout rate in those starts.
“Somebody that knows me pretty well,” Rodriguez said. “Games go pretty smoothly with him behind the dish.”
When Rutschman first arrived at Triple-A this season, joining the Tides during a road trip in Nashville, Neustrom was surprised with how fluid Rutschman’s swing already was. The catcher had missed time, yet there was no sign of any malaise.
“That’s the thing about Adley, right?” Neustrom said. “When you watch him, he always looks mid-swing. When he came into spring training, he looked mid-swing. And when he came up here last week in Nashville, it was like, ‘You haven’t been playing?’”
He hadn’t. And perhaps that showed itself to start, with a slow week at the plate for the Tides. But he quickly righted himself. All the while, Rutschman’s demeanor didn’t change.
“He’s a joy to be around,” Britton said. “Smiles all the time. Does his work, prepares and plays in the game. And that’s part of it, too. Like, man, you have someone with this skill set, it’s just, it’s not about Adley. He couldn’t care less about what he does. He genuinely wants to win and he wants other guys around him to do well, too.”
The expectations heaped on Rutschman are immense. For a fan base starved of much hope at the major league level since the 2018 trade that sent infielder Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rutschman is a light in the dark.
The fan base has clamored for this moment. And now it’s here.
“Adley’s awesome,” said left-hander Nick Vespi, who played with Rutschman at Triple-A. “He’s exactly what the Orioles want out of him.”
Even if what the Orioles get might become somewhat “boring” after a while, when the consistency becomes more expected than impressive.
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