Jul 16, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) looks back to the dugout for a pitching sign at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The impending arrival of Adley Rutschman will remind fans of the hype surrounding Matt Wieters. The comparison isn’t an irrelevant one.
Before the Orioles made Rutschman the first overall draft pick in 2019, some scouts said that he was the best college catcher they’d seen since Wieters.
Wieters had a solid major league career but, to some, he was a disappointment, even though he was a key player in the Orioles’ last revival. There’s hope that Rutschman will be a key player in their next one.
Wieters wasn’t the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. The Orioles had the fifth pick, and Wieters was chosen after Tampa Bay (starter David Price), Kansas City (infielder Mike Moustakas), the Chicago Cubs (infielder Josh Vitters) and Pittsburgh (pitcher Daniel Moskos) passed on him.
The Georgia Tech catcher was compared with the New York Yankees’ Jorge Posada and Minnesota’s Joe Mauer.
Wieters’ 18.2 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) was the seventh highest of any player taken in the first round.
Josh Donaldson, who was selected as a catcher from Auburn by the Cubs with the 48th pick, has a 44.4. Price’s is 40.3. Outfielder Jason Heyward (39.4) taken 14th by Atlanta, pitcher Madison Bumgarner (38.2), the 10th pick by San Francisco, infielder Todd Frazier (25.2), the 34th selection by Cincinnati, and starter Rick Porcello (20.2), chosen 27th by Detroit, were higher.
Wieters’ $6 million bonus was the highest in the draft and was one of the earliest significant moves made by Andy MacPhail, who became the head of Orioles’ baseball operations shortly after Wieters was selected.
The signing, which occurred moments before the August 15th deadline, came too late for Wieters to play minor league baseball that season. Instead, Wieters played winter baseball in Hawaii and began his pro career in 2008.
Unlike Rutschman, who began with a short stint in the Gulf Coast League, Wieters went to High-A Frederick. He had a terrific first season — a .355 average, 1.053 OPS, 27 home runs and 91 RBIs with the Keys and Double-A Bowie.
Rutschman, who played just 37 games in the Gulf Coast League, Short Season A Aberdeen and Low-A Delmarva in 2019, couldn’t play minor league baseball in 2020 because of the canceled season.
In 2021, Rutschman had a solid season at Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, with a .285 average and .899 OPS with 23 home runs and 75 RBIs.
After the 2008 season, Wieters was sent to the Arizona Fall League, but the Orioles decided that Rutschman shouldn’t play in the AFL.
In 2009, Wieters began the season at Norfolk, where he hit .305 with an .890 OPS and was recalled after 39 games.
MacPhail announced that Wieters would be recalled on May 29th during a telecast of the Orioles’ May 26th game. Wieters’ debut drew 42,704 to Oriole Park, about four times as many as the 10,130 for the May 26th game.
Mike Elias, who currently heads the Orioles’ baseball operations and drafted Rutschman first, would like to see a crowd that large for his top draft pick’s first game.
Wieters, who hit .288 with nine homers, 43 RBIs and a .753 OPS in 96 games, joined a team that would lose 98 games.
The team had talented players — outfielders Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, second baseman, Brian Roberts — and some younger pitchers, including Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman.
The only player still active from that 2009 team is left-handed starter Rich Hill, who will turn 42 in March. Hill signed a $5 million contract with Boston for 2022.
Rutschman’s Orioles will be considerably younger. Only pitchers Cole Sulser and Jordan Lyles, both born in 1990, are over 30.
The hype for Wieters intensified in 2010 when Sports Illustrated, then a widely read weekly magazine, put him on the cover. “The Perfect Catch,” the cover read.
Wieters was one of the best catchers in team history, earning Gold Gloves in 2011 and 2012 and four All-Star selections.
He was most valuable in 2012 when he led a staff that included Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Jason Hammel, Miguel Gonzalez and late-season acquisition Joe Saunders to a win in the American League wild-card game. The Orioles followed with a narrow five-game loss to the New York Yankees in the 2012 American League Division Series.
Wieters was missed in 2014 when he had Tommy John surgery as the Orioles’ won the AL East. His offense and defense would have been invaluable in the ALCS when they had no answer for the Kansas City Royals, who swept them in four games.
Because MacPhail had delayed Wieters’ arrival in 2009, the Orioles were able to retain him in 2015, and he accepted their qualifying offer in 2016 when the Orioles again qualified for the postseason.
Because of the expectations, whatever Wieters did for the Orioles wasn’t enough for many fans, which was disappointing. His guidance of the pitching staff was unmatched.
Wieters never set the oversized expectations for himself, just as Rutschman isn’t part of his hype.
Rutschman will be an excellent player, just as Wieters was. And maybe he won’t have to listen to the Wieters comparisons.
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Great posting Rich. While Wieters was a disappointment to many, not to me. He was a big part of the turnaround from about 12 years of misery. Rutschman may benefit from Wieters not making the HOF as was promised. The opposite of Doug DeCinces having to replace Brooks.
Thank you, BRobby.
Number one:if Rutschman has a career like Wieters I WILL be disappointed,number two:if the O's draw 42,000 for Rutchman's debut I WILL be surprised. The good thing is that on April 1st Rutschman WILL be playing baseball regardless of this fiasco(I mean talks).
Weiters was indeed a major contributor. I did however always feel that their was more there particularly on the offensive side.
It was almost to me that he had always put up big numbers in college and in the minors because his natural talent got him by. When he
got to the majors everybody had that talent and he didn’t know how to improve.
Remember when boras called him Mauer with power. So much for that label. I think Adley will be much better than wieters.
What else would you expect Boras to say?
Wieters definitely helped that team, but Rutschman I expect will be much better. If he plateaus at that level that would be a big disappointment. All indications at this point are he is going to be an elite player. Now let’s surround him with some more elite talent.
If he’s as good as he is expected to be that would be great...but for now he’s just a prospect that has never faced major league pitching. Come to think of it, neither has anyone who faces the Orioles pitchers.
For the record, I don't think Wieters' presence would have changed the results of the Orioles-Royals playoff series. KC was in the middle of a great two-year run and took the Giants to seven games that year.
The O’s were also without Machado and Crash.
Those 3 surely would have made a difference...certainly wouldn’t have been a sweep.
Yep.
Wieters fell in the draft because Boras, the ultimate hyper of player benefit, was his agent. Like Dylan Bundy, Sisters did not live up to the hype. He was also hurt by comparison to another, less hyped catcher, Buster Posey, who was better and for longer than Wieters.
Adley will be much better. Matusz? LOL!
Great article Rich with a couple of interesting lessons. First - super high expectations are not always met. Second - a good player who had higher expectations is typically not embraced by fans. Third - one good player with high expectations does not make the entire team good. This has been my concern for awhile. 2-3 good players will not make the O’s competitive. We need a strong 7-8 regulars and 4-5 pitchers to be competitive.
It looks as though Wieters had better numbers than Adley while coming through the minors, yet some people are betting the future of the franchise on Adley. This is deja vu all over again - haven’t we learned this lesson the hard way?
Good points ... not saying the Orioles high farm system rating is undeserved, but it seems to be based mostly on having two exceptional top 10 prospects, Adley and GRod ... once you get past them, you have to drop down to the 70s to find the next highest O's prospect ... as you note, even if Adley and GRod pan out, they alone will not be sufficient to make the Orioles a post-season contender.
Minors numbers don't mean squat! He will be better.
"Switch-hitting Jesus?!" Worst nickname ever! DOH"
I don’t think comparing AR to Weiters is a bad thing. I mean, as long as I don’t hear him being compared to Severino I think I’ll be happy.
;)…perfect…go O’s…
I am a huge Wieters fan, but I don’t think he lived up to hype. He was branded as the next joe Mauer and his bat never came close to that. While Wieters did not play in Aberdeen in 2008, he did work out for the last few weeks of the season. From a minor league fans perspective, Wieters and Rutschman couldn’t be different. During his workouts at Aberdeen, Wieters was friendly, and would interact with fans and sign anything people would put in front of him. Rutschman would avoid fans and sign very few autographs. Temperament aside, let’s hope Rutschman lives up to hype and can be the super star this organization needs.
I have mixed feelings about AR as a catcher. He’s projected to be a great hitter and a great catcher, but that position takes such a toll on one’s body. I think about Craig Biggio who moved to second base, Josh Donaldson who moved to third, and Bryce harper who moved to the outfield. Should the Orioles be looking at moving Adley to a different position?
What? He hasn’t even taken a swing at the big league level. Let’s let it play out, for goodness sakes. If his knees are barking after a few years, we have options at 1st base.