The Baltimore Orioles were 16-24 when they called up catcher Adley Rutschman in May.
They finished the season 83-79, so an argument can be made that if the O’s had brought Rutschman up sooner they could have made it into October.
With his natural leadership skills, incredible catching prowess and his above-average bat, Rutschman is the franchise player that Baltimore has needed since Manny Machado left town.
Rutschman hit .254/.362/.445 with 13 home runs and 35 doubles.
More importantly, he led the Orioles young pitching staff and helped him earn great results.
He usually calls the pitch that the situation requires, he can steal some strikes via framing, and he will encourage his pitchers to get the best out of them.
Rutschman is the complete package.
He was this close to leading the league in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), and probably would have if called up in April or had he made the team out of camp.
Despite not making his debut until the end of May, Adley Rutschman wasted no time making his impact felt 😳@Orioles | #Birdland pic.twitter.com/HNJGpbkXVe
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 14, 2022
An Elite Catcher
What DRS does is quantify a player’s defensive showing over a specific timeframe compared to the league average, trying to determine how many runs he saved or cost his team.
The stat includes errors, range, outfield arm and double-play ability, among other things.
The league’s official site explains how to calculate it with a perfect example: “Say, for instance, a center fielder sprints to make a nice catch on a fly ball. Then, say data from BIS tells us that similar fly balls get caught 60 percent of the time. That center fielder gains, essentially, 0.4 bonus points for difficulty. If he can’t make the play, he loses 0.6 points.”
If it wasn’t for Jose Trevino’s Platinum Glove-worthy performance, Rutschman could have been a Gold Glover and led the league in DRS.
He will have plenty of years to try and do that: he is now the Orioles’ single most important player.
What a ride.