The Baltimore Orioles sit atop the AL East with a dominant 26-14 record, and one of the main reasons behind this strong start has been the play of Adley Rutschman, who is inserting himself right in the middle of the MVP conversation.
Rutschman is hitting .309 with eight homers and 25 RBI while playing his typical strong defense, and this start has put him on pace to be in historic company if he can keep it up.
Baltimore Sun beat reporter Matt Weyrich pointed out that Rutschman is on pace to hit over .300 with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI, which are numbers that only three catchers have accumulated in the last 50 years: Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, and Javy Lopez.
Adley Rutschman is on pace to hit over .300 with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBIs. Only three catchers in the last 50 years have hit all those numbers in a season: Iván Rodríguez, Mike Piazza and Javy López.
: @Orioles pic.twitter.com/AUkl4vWUhz
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) May 14, 2024
Those are three of the best offensive catchers to ever do it, and anytime you’re mentioned in the same sentence with players like that, you’re doing something right.
The one thing Rutschman hasn’t done much of yet is draw walks, as he has only eight through 39 games after taking 92 last year.
Rutschman is one of the few catchers who has a bat that’s so vital to the team that he slots in at DH in nearly every game he isn’t catching.
His bat is special and he is one of the last of a dying breed as a switch hitter.
Rutschman is also demolishing lefties so far at a .443 clip with four homers and 18 RBI in just 61 at-bats, so if he can pick it up from the left side of the plate, who knows what kind of numbers he might end up with.
The post Adley Rutschman Is On Pace For Elite MLB History appeared first on The Cold Wire.