June 22: Rutschman isn’t anticipated to return till after the All-Star break, Mansolino advised reporters (together with Roch Kubatko of MASN).
June 21: The Orioles introduced this afternoon that catcher Adley Rutschman is being positioned on the 10-day injured record because of a left indirect pressure. Catcher Maverick Handley was recalled to the majors to exchange Rutschman on the roster.
The information comes after Rutschman was a late scratch on Friday because of what the Orioles termed on the time as “stomach tightness.” Supervisor Tony Mansolino advised reporters (together with Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Solar) that Rutschman went for an MRI this morning. Evidently, that spherical of testing revealed a strained indirect for the switch-hitting backstop. A two-time All-Star and embellished hitter presently within the midst of his fourth season within the majors, Rutschman is hitting simply .227/.319/.372 with a 100 wRC+ that clocks in as exactly league common.
That could possibly be construed as very regarding provided that Rutschman additionally suffered a down 12 months (104 wRC+) in 2024, however the excellent news is that Rutschman’s underlying efficiency (.350 xwOBA) considerably outstrips his precise manufacturing (.309 wOBA) thus far this season. He’s strolling greater than final 12 months, sporting the perfect barrel price (8.6%) of his profession, and his paltry .247 BABIP is definite to extend if given time. Extra regarding than his offensive numbers is that he’s been slightly pedestrian behind the plate defensively this 12 months in response to superior metrics, however defensive metrics are notoriously fickle and it wouldn’t be a shock to see these numbers get better over the long-term both.
In fact, Rutschman will now have to get wholesome and return to the sphere to be able to make good on these projected enhancements. It’s not but clear precisely how lengthy Rutschman is predicted to overlook, although indirect strains could be fairly tough for place gamers to bounce again from rapidly because of the rotational nature of hitting. Even pretty gentle strains can usually take upwards of a month of restoration, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see Rutschman out of fee till after the All-Star break. Within the meantime, it’s clear that the Orioles will lean on a tandem of Gary Sanchez and Handley. Sanchez has made it into simply 17 video games this 12 months after coping with accidents of his personal, however is slashing a good .217/.298/.433 (101 wRC+) with 32 homers in 598 plate appearances relationship again to the 2023 marketing campaign. Handley, in the meantime, made his massive league debut earlier this 12 months and has hit simply .075/.136/.075 in 15 video games as a giant leaguer.
Handley’s lackluster efficiency will naturally create some consideration on high catching prospect Samuel Basallo, who has lengthy been thought of top-of-the-line prospects in the whole recreation. Mansolino largely shut down the concept Basallo could possibly be an choice to come back up any time quickly, nonetheless. As famous by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner, Mansolino mentioned that he hopes to see Basallo “completely destroy Triple-A in all aspects of the sport” earlier than becoming a member of the massive league membership, and that he’ll be on the radar for a giant league call-up as soon as he “knocks the door down.”
It’s arduous to argue that Basallo isn’t already knocking on the door fairly strongly, a minimum of from an offensive perspective. The 20-year-old has an absurd .266/.374/.589 slash line with the membership’s Norfolk affiliate this 12 months, good for a 151 wRC+. He’s hit 15 homers in simply 46 video games whereas strolling at an outstanding 14.4% clip. With that being mentioned, he’s solely caught 15 video games this season after coping with hamstring and elbow points early within the 12 months that price him video games and restricted him to DH even when he was wholesome sufficient to play. On condition that actuality and Basallo’s shaky grades behind the plate defensively from some scouts, it’s not essentially a shock that the Orioles would need to see a bigger pattern of their high prospect’s work behind the dish earlier than selling him to the majors.
