Weeks after the Orioles’ season ended, we’re no closer to understanding what caused the star catcher’s weeks-long slump.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
We’re in the midst of a four-day lull with no baseball. The World Series matchup is set but won’t begin until Friday in Los Angeles. Let’s go Dodgers, by default.
In the meantime, Orioles fans are continuing to take stock of the many reasons why the O’s won’t be playing in the Fall Classic in a few days. A prominent one was Adley Rutschman, whose offensive tailspin after the All-Star break coincided with a team-wide hitting slump, especially with runners in scoring position, that ultimately doomed the Birds in the Wild Card Series.
The Baltimore Banner’s Jon Meoli notes that Rutschman’s OPS with RISP dipped by nearly 200 points in the second half (.669) compared to the first (.867). Meoli cautions that not all the blame should be put on Rutschman, as other hitters — including Gunnar Henderson — had even bigger dropoffs in RISP performance after the break. Still, Adley’s overall woes at the plate stand as one of the biggest mysteries of the Orioles’ 2024 campaign. On June 21, after a five-hit day in Houston, Rutschman was batting .305/.352/.485 with 14 home runs through 71 games. For the remaining 77 games of the season, he hit .192/.284/.290 with five dingers.
The common theory among O’s fans during Rutschman’s extended slump was that he must have been playing through some undisclosed injury, one not serious enough to warrant an IL trip but significant enough to hamper his overall play. Yet the season has been over for weeks now and there’s been no report from Rutschman or the Orioles of any type of ailment. The fact that he was healthy is even more alarming; it means there was no convenient explanation for why he suddenly forgot how to hit for months on end.
Meoli posits that perhaps Rutschman was putting too much pressure on himself and trying to do too much because of the many injuries to other key players. If that’s the case, we can only hope the offseason reset will help Adley clear his mind and come back next year as the best version of himself. Because if the Rutschman of 2025 looks anything like the guy who slumbered through the second half this year, the Orioles are going to have a problem on their hands.
Links
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Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 30th birthday to a guy who is technically still an Oriole, Corbin Burnes. The righty’s first (and probably only) year in Baltimore was everything the O’s could have hoped when they acquired him to be their ace. He went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA during the regular season, started for the American League in the All-Star Game, stabilized an injury-wracked rotation, and pitched a brilliant Game 1 of the postseason that would have become part of Orioles legend if only the O’s could have scored any runs. Enjoy your day, Corbin, and go get paid this offseason. You’ve earned it.
And happy 42nd birthday to another great Oriole, Darren O’Day. The righty submariner was an essential part of the O’s bullpen for nearly a decade, impressing fans both as a shutdown reliever and as a delightful human being. Other former Orioles born on Oct. 22 include right-hander Hector Carrasco (55) and catchers Eli Whiteside (45), Keith Osik (56), and Jamie Quirk (70).
Oct. 22 has been an extremely slow day in Orioles history. On this date in 2015 they signed lefty César Cabral, who pitched just two games for the Orioles. And in 1971 they made a four-player trade with the Brewers in which only one ever played for the O’s, infielder Tommy Matchick, who appeared in three games.