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Saturday, May 21, 2022

Adley Rutschman, MLB’s No. 1 prospect, called up to O’s

After years of anticipation and weeks of speculation, Adley Rutschman has arrived.

The Orioles on Saturday promoted baseball’s top overall prospect, setting the stage for one of the most anticipated big league debuts in recent memory and marking a milestone in the franchise’s rebuilding efforts. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 Draft, he’s been ranked one of baseball’s top two prospects since the summer of 2020 and is currently No. 1.

Rutschman is in the Orioles starting lineup Saturday against the Rays, batting sixth and catching right-hander Kyle Bradish.

“I’d say about as excited as I can be right now,” Rutschman said at Oriole Park on Saturday afternoon. “I mean, this is probably about the coolest thing, the coolest moment that I’ve had so far. I’m really excited for it.”

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: May 21, 2022 at 10:18 PM | 41 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: adley rutschman, orioles

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1. The Duke Posted: May 22, 2022 at 08:53 AM (#6077892)

I'm surprised it took him so long. He's already 24. Did the orioles deliberately hold him down? It's hard to tell with catchers. Joey Bart seems to have come up slowly too. I've always thought you need to come up early as a catcher given the beating they take. Arriving at 25, you might be done in five years.

2. BDC

Posted: May 22, 2022 at 09:24 AM (#6077894)

As I think was discussed in some previous thread, Rutschmann played college ball through age 21, reached A ball that year too, there was no minor-league season when he was 22, he did AA and AAA at age 23, and up to the majors at 24. It is hard to think of a faster route during COVID times unless one argues he should have come to the majors with almost no pro experience at all.

3. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: May 22, 2022 at 10:21 AM (#6077897)

Bobby Witt Jr. was drafted after him out of high school and has already been in the big leagues for 2 months. Rutschman was obviously held down for service time reasons.

4. Ziggy: social distancing since 1980 Posted: May 22, 2022 at 10:23 AM (#6077898)

He's 1 for 3, with a slugging percentage of 1.000. Because his first MLB hit was a triple. That's got to be fun. Maybe even more fun than breaking in with a home run, this way you get to run around the bases on your first hit.

5. The Yankee Clapper Posted: May 22, 2022 at 11:31 AM (#6077900)

re: #s 1& 2, Rutschman might have started the season with the Orioles - they didn’t really do anything to acquire MLB-caliber catchers in the offseason - but he got hurt in spring training. The Orioles certainly didn’t rush his rehab, so maybe they decided that the late start made further service time manipulation too inviting.

6. The Yankee Clapper Posted: May 22, 2022 at 11:45 AM (#6077901)

17,573 at Camden Yards for Rutschman’s debut. A little short of the 40,315 at Nationals Park in 2010 for ‘Strasmas’, the debut of Stephen Strasburg, which was comparably hyped (or more) at the time.

7. John DiFool2 Posted: May 22, 2022 at 12:06 PM (#6077904)

#6 et al.: How quickly everyone here has forgotten Matt Wieters. Sad...

8. David Nieporent (now, with children) Posted: May 22, 2022 at 12:39 PM (#6077909)

17,573 at Camden Yards for Rutschman’s debut. A little short of the 40,315 at Nationals Park in 2010 for ‘Strasmas’, the debut of Stephen Strasburg, which was comparably hyped (or more) at the time.

What you may not realize is that despite the fact that Orioles fans have had absolutely nothing to be interested in since July 18, 2018, and that Orioles fans have been eagerly awaiting Rutschman, the stupid ####### who run the team quietly said on Saturday morning that he was being called up that day.

A normal team, that wasn't controlled by anti-marketers, might have had a press conference at the beginning of the week to announce that he'd be making his debut that weekend.

9. What did Billy Ripken have against ElRoy Face? Posted: May 22, 2022 at 12:47 PM (#6077912)

A normal team, that wasn't controlled by anti-marketers, might have had a press conference at the beginning of the week to announce that he'd be making his debut that weekend.

I think it was perfectly reasonable and understandable to choose “let’s not put even more pressure on our top prospect” over “let’s sell some more tickets for a game or two.”

10. Captain Joe Bivens, Pointless and Wonderful Posted: May 22, 2022 at 02:24 PM (#6077951)

1...I thought the same. 24 isn't young for debuts.

11. Tom Nawrocki Posted: May 22, 2022 at 02:44 PM (#6077957)

Bobby Witt Jr. was drafted after him out of high school and has already been in the big leagues for 2 months.

Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, also beat Rutschman to the majors. The Tigers sent Torkelson immediately to high A after he was drafted, and he was in AAA by the end of his first pro season. The Orioles, by contrast, sent Rutschman to rookie ball, then low A, then high A. Should you really take a 21-year-old player as the first overall pick if you don't think he's ready for A ball?

12. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: May 22, 2022 at 03:23 PM (#6077973)

Should you really take a 21-year-old player as the first overall pick if you don't think he's ready for A ball?

The Cubs did that with Kris Bryant.

13. Ithaca2323 Posted: May 22, 2022 at 03:33 PM (#6077981)

I feel like the debut of a position player is different than the debut of a pitcher.

He's going to get 4 PAs in a 3 hour game. Maybe there's a play he makes defensively, but I can't imagine making a special trip for that. It's different than watching a pitcher face 20-25 guys.

14. The Yankee Clapper Posted: May 22, 2022 at 03:36 PM (#6077982)

Day game after a night game has Rutschman @ DH today. That’s how it’s done now, not like when men were men.

15. Walt Davis Posted: May 22, 2022 at 04:00 PM (#6077993)

My only defense of the O's is that he's a catcher and Cs frequently develop slowly. It takes time to learn the position. There are exceptions of course -- IRod, Bench, McCann, Simmons, Carter. But Piazza became a starter at 24; Fisk at 24; Munson 23; Posada 26. Rutschman had 17 starts at C in 2019, 80 last year and just 12 so far this year. But I agree, in the good old days, he'd have been up before now even if it was just for a month or two last year.

But let's be clear, it's not like he re-defined minor-league hitting. 254/351/423 in 2019; 285/397/502 in 2021. Nothing wrong with those but they don't scream "promote this guy now!" (Bryant 336/390/688 in 2013; 325/438/661 in 2014.) He might deserve to be the #1 prospect in that he's got all the skills for a good, long career but there's no evidence he's the next Bench.

With the new CBA, any idea where the super-2 deadline might be these days?

16. Starring Bradley Scotchman as RMc Posted: May 22, 2022 at 04:14 PM (#6078000)

How quickly everyone here has forgotten Matt Wieters. Sad...

For real; he was branded as the new messiah around here, albeit ironically. But Weiters had a pretty good career: 12 years in the majors, four ASGs, two Gold Gloves and some MVP votes in 2012. (He sure did a lot better than the guy drafted right ahead of him...)

17. shoelesjoe Posted: May 22, 2022 at 05:03 PM (#6078020)

Rutschman has been the best catcher in the Orioles’ system over the last two years, and probably should have been brought up middle of last season. I can sort of see the logic of holding him back a bit, and barring an injury during spring training he’d likely have been on the opening day 2022 roster. The Orioles have a ton of good prospects that should make their MLB debut in the next two years, and I’m guessing the O’s brass wants them all hitting their prime years together when the team is (hopefully) competitive.

18. Adam Starblind Posted: May 22, 2022 at 06:03 PM (#6078028)

.
Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, also beat Rutschman to the majors.

Spencer Torkelson is currently slashing .179/.290/.321.

19. BDC

Posted: May 22, 2022 at 07:48 PM (#6078037)

Rutschman today: 1 for 5 with a run scored – the winning run, in fact … as a zombie.

20. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: May 22, 2022 at 11:55 PM (#6078070)

With the new CBA, any idea where the super-2 deadline might be these days?

I don't believe they changed anything with this, did they?

I do think Rutschman might have gotten called up last August or Sept, but they didn't want to have him lose spring training time as part of the work stoppage.

21. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: May 23, 2022 at 12:08 AM (#6078071)

he was branded as the new messiah around here, albeit ironically

22. Sleepy was just looking for porta potties Posted: May 23, 2022 at 12:37 AM (#6078075)

A little short of the 40,315 at Nationals Park in 2010 for ‘Strasmas’, the debut of Stephen Strasburg, which was comparably hyped (or more) at the time.

I remember all that hype, and was surprised that Harper played his first game on the road. I remember hearing that Harper was going to debut at Dodger Stadium in 2012 the day of the game (apr 28, 2012), probably from a post here, and decided at the last minute to drive down and watch. Good times.

54,242 came out to see Harper :)

23. The Honorable Ardo Posted: May 23, 2022 at 02:12 AM (#6078081)

Speaking of great catchers, Ivan Rodriguez was the catcher for both Strasmas and, seventeen years earlier, the Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura brawl.

Teammate chain:
Juan Soto (still only 23 years old) - Strasburg
Strasburg - Pudge
Pudge - Ryan
Ryan - Ed Charles, who, at age 12, witnessed Jackie Robinson's historic first spring training in Daytona Beach in 1946. (Charles grew up in the city.)

24. DFA Posted: May 23, 2022 at 02:13 AM (#6078082)

What you may not realize is that despite the fact that Orioles fans have had absolutely nothing to be interested in since July 18, 2018, and that Orioles fans have been eagerly awaiting Rutschman, the stupid ####### who run the team quietly said on Saturday morning that he was being called up that day.

A normal team, that wasn't controlled by anti-marketers, might have had a press conference at the beginning of the week to announce that he'd be making his debut that weekend.

If anything, this shows me that Elias is trying to build a winner, critics be damned. The Orioles are my team, and I was floored when they hired Elias back in November of 2018. A lot has gone wrong, the losses, Kjerstad's myocarditis, cancelling the minor league season in 2020 for a rebuilding team, Cowser's strikeouts in Aberdeen. But I could give a sh!t about the attendance for Rutschman's debut, or any buzz or whatever. The Orioles are not trying to win in 2022, but that doesn't mean they aren't trying to win. Grayson will be up soon, and while you can never have enough prospects, the organization is better positioned to win in the not so distant future than it has been in quite sometime...

25. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: May 23, 2022 at 08:18 AM (#6078091)

That was mostly about Prospectus' hilariously optimistic projection of his rookie season, as I recall. Silver had left and they were fighting a losing battle with college stats, and ended up projecting Wieters as a Piazza clone.

It wasn't just Prospectus, but yeah, theirs was the most optimistic.

I don't think college stats were the issue. Wieters put up a line of .355/.454/.600 across A and AA ball in his first full minor league season. That's going to project well no matter what, but the projections were obviously too rosy.

26. The Duke Posted: May 23, 2022 at 09:30 AM (#6078098)

From buster olney today:

From the research of @PaulHembo: Mike Mussina is the ONLY Hall of Famer (writers' ballot) who does not have his number retired by his first organization after spending at least his first 10 seasons with that team.

27. Ithaca2323 Posted: May 23, 2022 at 10:13 AM (#6078102)

Mike Mussina is the ONLY Hall of Famer (writers' ballot) who does not have his number retired by his first organization after spending at least his first 10 seasons with that team.

The Orioles are a clown show organization that lowballed Mussina after 2000 and the fanbase has held him up as a turncoat. Not surprising that they're treating their second-greatest pitcher ever this way

28. Ziggy: social distancing since 1980 Posted: May 23, 2022 at 10:20 AM (#6078106)

Prospect hype can be a lot of fun, even if it's often not quite warranted. I was at Wieters' first game and was amazingly excited. Even got a nice picture of a rainbow arching over Camden Yards during his second career at bat. He didn't turn out to be the pot of gold, but he was a lot of fun.

Strasmass was during my honeymoon. The game was on the TV behind my new wife while we were out for dinner. I'd like to say that I spent the entire meal staring lovingly into her adoring eyes, but I may have looked up at the TV every once in a while.

29. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: May 23, 2022 at 12:40 PM (#6078127)

Mike Mussina is the ONLY Hall of Famer (writers' ballot) who does not have his number retired by his first organization after spending at least his first 10 seasons with that team.

To be fair, he was just elected to the HOF a couple of years ago.

30. The Duke Posted: May 24, 2022 at 04:42 PM (#6078323)

I read somewhere else the Orioles were mad he went in with an empty hat on his plaque. Is that even his call anymore ? Why should they be mad ?

31. dejarouehg Posted: May 24, 2022 at 05:22 PM (#6078330)

What you may not realize is that despite the fact that Orioles fans have had absolutely nothing to be interested in since July 18, 2018, and that Orioles fans have been eagerly awaiting Rutschman, the stupid ####### who run the team quietly said on Saturday morning that he was being called up that day.

Not sure if the ####### you are referring to is Angelos or Elias, but the next best day in the Orioles franchise history will be the day anything Angelos-related has nothing to do with the Orioles.

Here's hoping that Adley lives up to the hype.

32. Ron J Posted: May 24, 2022 at 10:17 PM (#6078359)

#25 The story I heard was a "deep" data entry error. Basically the wrong league adjustment. And as I recall, BP denied that this is what happened.

Gary Huckabay started their projections and used neural networks. He said that every now and then the projections hit a feedback loop. Might be what happened.

33. SoSH U at work Posted: May 25, 2022 at 12:01 AM (#6078374)

I read somewhere else the Orioles were mad he went in with an empty hat on his plaque. Is that even his call anymore ? Why should they be mad ?

The Hall has the final call, but they're willing to listen to the player's wishes if it's reasonable.

I hate logoless hats in the Hall, the plaque version of knockoff cards that couldn't secure licensing deals. If the player can't choose one, the Hall should do it for them.

Mussina might well be the only current player who fits the bill, but Boggs was in the Hall for 11 years before the Red Sox retired his number.

34. Howie Menckel Posted: May 25, 2022 at 12:22 AM (#6078375)

Boggs famously tried to sucker the Hall into him wearing a Rays cap on the plague (for monetary purposes), which I believe caused the rules revision. plus he won a ring for the Yankees before the drought ended.

I have mentioned being at the last regular-season series of 1986 for the Sox, which was at Fenway. he sat out the 4 meaningless games (Sox had clinched), perceived to be to protect his batting title, while Mattingly racked up hit after hit in an ultimately futile chase.

I was struck at that time by how Boggs was only grudgingly popular at Fenway, if at all, even then.

Mussina is a Stanford grad. I also have mentioned how striking of a post-game interview he was. tried to be cooperative, but he was the one guy in the clubhouse who was far more intelligent than most if not all of the beat guys. so it was a little awkward.

I would be fascinated if he ever has or will said/say that he gives a #### about any of this. he was a fish out of water, basically, in his career.

35. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: May 25, 2022 at 08:40 AM (#6078387)

I would be fascinated if he ever has or will said/say that he gives a #### about any of this. he was a fish out of water, basically, in his career.

Mussina retired after a 20-win season, 30 away from 300 career wins. I don't remember him complaining that it took him a few years to make the HOF. Maybe he cares about this kind of thing but if so, he hasn't let on.

36. John DiFool2 Posted: May 25, 2022 at 09:32 AM (#6078391)

I was struck at that time by how Boggs was only grudgingly popular at Fenway, if at all, even then.

Never went to Fenway until 2004, but, while I was vaguely familiar with his fan rep at the time, it is still a bit shocking. Classic case of someone who will be underrated (all those walks, didn't try to hit for power except for that one season). I'd say that his actual value to that team was muted by the 2 guys coming up behind him. If he had Papi and Manny behind him vs. two declining stars in Buckner & Rice he'd score 150 runs each year.

Mussina might well be the only current player who fits the bill, but Boggs was in the Hall for 11 years before the Red Sox retired his number.

Funny thing, NFL teams rarely retire numbers-some never do. Guess because there's 99 of them available each year, and the team will need well over 50, during training camp at least.

37. The Yankee Clapper Posted: May 25, 2022 at 03:02 PM (#6078424)

Spencer Torkelson is currently slashing .179/.290/.321.

Torkelaon has since ‘surged’ to .190/.296/.328, while Rutschman is only at .188/.278/.313, but it’s early. Lots of players take awhile to adjust to MLB. Neither the Tigers nor Orioles are going anywhere this season, so both can afford to be patient.

38. jacksone (AKA It's OK...) Posted: May 25, 2022 at 03:30 PM (#6078427)

Funny thing, NFL teams rarely retire numbers-some never do. Guess because there's 99 of them available each year, and the team will need well over 50, during training camp at least.

135 players have had their number retired in the NFL. Something like 200 #'s are retired in MLB, but some of those are the same player by multiple teams. I don't see that much of a difference, especially considering the relative length of careers in the NFL vs MLB.

39. BDC

Posted: May 25, 2022 at 03:36 PM (#6078428)

The Dallas Cowboys have never retired a number, but there are numbers that nobody wears (22 Smith, 74 Lilly, several others), making it a subtle distinction if one at all.

But they also have the nice informal tradition of giving 88 (Pearson, Irvin) to a player they expect to live up to it: Dez Bryant for many years, now CeeDee Lamb.

40. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: May 25, 2022 at 03:42 PM (#6078431)

Boggs famously tried to sucker the Hall into him wearing a Rays cap on the plague (for monetary purposes), which I believe caused the rules revision.

Nolan Ryan had one of those clauses in his last Rangers contract too that he would go into the hall "as a Ranger" as the club attempted to manufacture some history and relevance, but in his case I can see it. Neither the Angels nor Astros have a clear-cut case, and in his first three years in Arlington the perception of him changed from being an unlucky sideshow attraction replaceable by "two 8-7 pitchers" to TeH GrEaTeSt PiTcHeR EvAr in the eyes of many fans.

41. NaOH Posted: May 25, 2022 at 04:48 PM (#6078436)

Funny thing, NFL teams rarely retire numbers-some never do. Guess because there's 99 of them available each year, and the team will need well over 50, during training camp at least.

There's also the fact that NFL players have number ranges used to designate player position. So a team's tight end must wear a number in the 40s or 80s, but the 80s are also used by wide receivers (who can also use 10–19). Combine the number-assignment system with naturally large rosters (relative to their being only 99 numbers) and teams don't have too many numbers to spare.

Number Assignment Chart

And the source article for that image says the Raiders, Steelers, Cowboys, and Commanders have a no-number-retirement policy.

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Saturday, May 21, 2022

Adley Rutschman, MLB’s No. 1 prospect, called up to O’s

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