Adley Rutschman never got a chance to say goodbye to Baltimore. When Rutschman was surprisingly traded to the Boston Red Sox on August 3rd, the three-time All-Star catcher was on the injured list with left wrist inflammation.
Rutschman, who’s hitting .170 with a home run and four RBIs in 15 games with the Red Sox, has missed his last three games with a hyperextended right elbow.
Whether or not the 28-year-old catcher plays on Thursday, he’ll have a clubhouse full of eager Orioles to greet him.
“On a personal level, I’m excited to see him,” Colton Cowser said.
Like Rutschman, who was the first overall draft choice in 2019, Cowser was the Orioles’ top pick two years later.
“I’m excited to see him and catch up with him, see how things have been,” Cowser said. “From a game level, I think it’s going to be weird. Playing with him for the last three years, knowing a lot about him. He knows a whole lot about us as hitters. If he’s behind the dish, he’s probably going to be talking a little bit because I talk to a lot of the catchers.
“I’m curious what that banter is going to be like. It will definitely be weird seeing him on the other side of the field.”
Gunnar Henderson was selected immediately after Rutschman in 2019, though Henderson was 18 and fresh out of high school, three years younger than Rutschman.
“He was my first roommate,” Henderson said. Henderson said he learned so much from Rutschman.
“Being able to see how he went about his business each and every day, being able to see what routines should be like, being able to learn from him and spending time with him, it’s been some of the best moments of my baseball career, and one of my best friends.”
Rutschman came up to the Orioles in May 2022, and Henderson followed three months later.
“He took me under his wing,” Henderson said. “He showed me the ropes up here because he had to go through it without much help. It was just really awesome to have those memories with him, being able to spend four years of time up here. Definitely some lifelong memories.”
Reliever Yennier Cano credits Rutschman with helping him navigate the big leagues.
“Really just the confidence he would give you behind the plate,” Cano said through a team translator. “If I threw a sinker and missed my spot, he would urge me to get back into the next pitch and ‘let [it all] hang’ and really just allow me to pitch and throw my next pitch and get it in there.”
Cano and Rutschman were able to communicate well, even though the right-hander speaks little English.
“He was an excellent catcher,” Cano said. “He always believed in the pitchers and would help them lean into their strengths and what they did well and would reinforce those things. It will be weird facing him.”
Rutschman would greet pitchers as they came off the mound after each inning, something his successors don’t do. It was something that Cano appreciated.
“It was always a nice gesture,” he said. “Whether your outing went good or bad, he would always meet up with you, and tell you, ‘it’s going to be ok,’ or would say you did a good job. That was always a really nice thing he did to offer support.”
Cowser learned from Rutschman.
“The work habits that he had, his process, how consistent it was,” Cowser said. “The adaptability on whenever things needed to change. I know he’s had a rough go of it with his body, but it’s not from a lack of effort.
“He’s in the training room all the time. He’s getting work done. He’s in the weight room all the time, getting his work in. I just think he’s had some freak things happen.”
Cowser, Henderson and Jackson Holliday, and sometimes others, would hang out with Rutschman at a card table after games, something that doesn’t happen now.
It took some adjustment for Henderson to realize his friend wasn’t there.
“Three or four days,” Henderson said. “The first couple of days was definitely weird because we’d been locker mates since I’ve been up here. It was weird walking into an empty locker beside mine, and [not] cutting up at some point during the day. Definitely different not having him there.”
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