Adley Rutschman was thrilled his first All-Star Game appearance will come at the first major league ballpark he ever went to. But it won’t be the only highlight of the Orioles catcher’s week at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.
Rutschman announced on his Instagram account Monday that he will be among the participants in July 10′s Home Run Derby, the second time in three years an Oriole has been in the field. Trey Mancini was the runner-up in the 2021 event.
Rutschman, a native of Sherwood, Oregon, has 11 home runs this year, his first full season in the majors. The 25-year-old was a finalist to start the All-Star Game for the American League after winning the first phase of fan voting by a sizable margin, but he lost a narrow head-to-head vote to Texas Rangers backstop Jonah Heim.
“Being an All-Star is an unbelievable honor,” Rutschman said Sunday. “The fact that it’s in the Northwest at [what was formerly] Safeco Field, first big league stadium I ever went to, means a lot, as well. Definitely a blessing to be in this position right now.”
The first overall pick in the 2019 draft, Rutschman joins a field that also features Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez (who won the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year award with Rutschman as the runner-up), Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena and New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso is a two-time winner of the event, beating Mancini in the 2021 finals.
Rutschman enters Monday with the fewest home runs of the incomplete field, though he’s not far behind Rodríguez’s 13 and Guerrero’s 12. Alonso’s 25 home runs are baseball’s third most, while Betts is tied for fifth with 22.
But Rutschman’s impact goes far beyond his power. From the start of the 2018 season that gave Baltimore the chance to draft Rutschman until the day before he made his debut May 21, 2022, the Orioles won fewer than a third of their games, finishing with one of baseball’s five worst records in each full season. But since Rutschman’s arrival, Baltimore is 116-88 — a 92-win pace over 162 games. This year, the Orioles are 49-33 and have the AL’s third-best record, with Rutschman’s impact on both sides of the ball key in that success.
Rutschman’s involvement in the Home Run Derby adds to what already figured to be a banner week for the Orioles. Outfielder Austin Hays and relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano join Rutschman as first-time All-Stars, and prospects Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad will participate in the All-Star Futures Game.
Baltimore sent players to the Home Run Derby each year from 2013 to 2016, but since the event’s inception in 1985, the only Orioles to win were Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991 and Miguel Tejada in 2004. Rutschman would be the first catcher to take the crown.
“I wish he was starting [the All-Star Game], but he’s going to have a lot of starts in the All-Star Game over his career,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Sunday. “Adley’s only going to get better. He’s still a young player in this league and he’s going to have ups and downs, and he’s got unbelievable makeup and is super driven and is going to be a force in this league for a long time.”
This story will be updated.
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