You’d probably have to inject truth serum in Mike Elias’ arm to get him candid enough to admit that in his first major decision as head of baseball operations for the Orioles, he selected the wrong player as the No. 1 pick in all of baseball.
It really was a two-player choice between Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman and Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in June 2019. After the Orioles took Rutschman, the giddy Kansas City Royals quickly selected Witt while hiding their grins.
But the fact that Elias muffed doesn’t mean that Rutschman is some sort of bum who can’t help the Orioles get to the promised land.
The purpose of this column isn’t to beat up on Elias. The sum total of what he’s done here in Baltimore is still pretty remarkable.
No, this is really about who is the real Rutschman? From his callup in 2022 to June 27, 2024, he hit .275/.350/.426 with 48 home runs, 78 doubles, 177 RBIs and 197 runs scored in 1,303 at-bats.
That player was an All-Star for the past two seasons in 2023 and 2024. We can’t even blame what has occurred to Rutschman recently on the dreaded Home Run Derby Curse. He was solid in 2023 after appearing in the Derby.
Since June 28, it’s as if Jeff Tackett has inhabited his body. In 54 games and 188 at-bats, Rutschman is batting just .176/.279/.261 with three homers, five doubles and 17 RBIs.
Additionally, the descriptions of Rutschman’s impact on the pitching staff and his abilities of simply receiving and throwing the baseball appear now to be greatly exaggerated.
I am not by any means absolving two of Rutschman’s veteran pitchers — Corbin Burnes and Craig Kimbrel — of their share of the blame that baserunners steal bases at will. But what happened to the guy we were told would be the jockey to a young and improving staff?
His penchant for greeting all of his pitchers as they walk off the mound to give them a pep talk now appears to be just a nice touch and isn’t followed up with the type of leadership we got spoiled by in the Rick Dempsey era.
What has worsened Rutschman’s slump is Orioles manager Brandon Hyde’s unwillingness to move his catcher out of the No. 2 spot in the order, outside of briefly dropping him to the No. 5 spot. I have always had the approach that a place in the batting order is not a player’s birthright. To me, a hitter has to earn the extra at-bats that come with batting near the top of the order.
Dropping Rutschman in the order isn’t a penalty for poor performance. You’re simply trying to win ballgames.
I’d start there. Baltimore Sun beat writer Jacob Calvin Meyer posted a tweet after the media chatted with Rutschman following the Orioles’ 2-0 loss on Sept. 8:
I can understand Rutschman not wanting to dwell on the topic, and it certainly doesn’t mean he isn’t working on some things with his coaches. But this probably is the worst streak of his baseball life and it is showing no signs of changing anytime soon.
Hyde should handle this by moving Rutschman down in the order. Doing so doesn’t mean the manager is giving up on the player. The skipper would merely be changing things up in hopes that a change might just help the player by taking some pressure off of him.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox