Text of the Day Tuesday on Inside Access centered around the future of the Baltimore Orioles.
"My guess is that Adley Rutschman is the first homegrown player that we see this front office extend," texted Colin from Severna Park. "Not a Boras client, and an opportunity to buy low."
Neither Ken Weinman nor Jason La Canfora agreed that Rutschman would do any new contract on a buy-low deal, and the conversation turned to positionality afterward.
"It's a weird triple-edged sword because it's like you want him to catch more," La Canfora said in consideration to how Rutschman hits when he catches versus when he's the DH. "You want him to hit when he catches, but he didn't hit when he caught young, so is he really going to hit when he [catches] old. When he catches older, are you paying a premium because he is a catcher?"
Last season Rutschman's slash line was .231/.299/.351 with 11 home runs in the 448 plate appearances on days he caught. When he hit as the Orioles designated hitter, Rutschman slashed .298/.366/.488 with eight homers in 186 plate appearances.
Not only was Rutschman's batting average, on-base average, and slugging percentage better when he was Baltimore's DH, he hit a home run per every 23.3 plate appearances when he wasn't catching, versus a homer every 40.7 plate appearances when he was behind the plate.
Rutschman was a more productive hitter on days he was not catching, and his career numbers fall in line with 2024.
"What if he's not catching as much," Weinman asked. "Could [Sam] Basallo steal some of his thunder in the next year or so?"
The decision to give Rutschman a long-term contract won't be limited to production, but also positionality and depth at catcher in the Orioles organization.