The hype was everything I hoped it would be at Camden Yards tonight as the Baltimore Orioles welcomed Top prospect Adley Rutschman to Baltimore. The building block and arguably foundational piece to begin the new wave of the rebuild was behind the plate for the first time as a O-Bird. Rutschman batted 6th in the lineup as the Orioles fall to the Rays 6-1. The score was nothing but a footnote tonight, as the show was all about one guy, Adley.
On the dish for Baltimore was Kyle Bradish, who was coming over his best start of his rookie campaign against the St. Louis Cardinals. In tonight’s matchup, Bradish’s 5th career start went quite well with only a few hiccups.
Adley’s First Inning behind the plate started off immaculate and should have stayed that way. Bradish quickly made work of the first two batters, Kiermaier and Diaz, and threw a 3rd strike to Choi, but the home plate umpire called it a ball and allowed him to walk. The next pitch, Randy Arozarena hit a home run out of the park on a hot night in Camden. Randy would go on to hit another against Bradish, really his only issue all night was the former AL Rookie of The Year Outfielder.
Adley chased a foul ball in the second, but the ball was too far into the stands. Opposing Manager Kevin Cash was a gentleman of the game however and put himself in harm’s way to protect the man on his debut.
Adley was as patient as one could be at the plate in a debut, and he was rewarded properly for it. The first at bat was a four-pitch strikeout as he was a little early on a changeup. His next at bat, is where his high OBP since college really started to show. Adley worked through a five-pitch at bat and made it safely on base for the first time in his career.
Adley’s third at bat is what fans will remember, and the ones at Camden yards will take home with them with their souvenir ticket to commemorate the magical day. The hit was something both hyped prospects of Orioles past (Matt Wieters and Manny Machado) did for their first ever MLB career hit, record a triple.
A new era has begun in Birdland, and tonight was just a taste of what it will be. The Orioles are set to play a day game to wrap up the series with the Rays in a rubber match beginning at 1:35pm EST. Since Rutschman was catcher for the game tonight, it’s safe to predict we may see him in the DH role Sunday Afternoon.
Adley Rutschman MLB Debut Stat Line
1-3, 1H (Triple) 1BB, 1K
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About the Author
Christian Rauh is the Co-Founder of Slasher Sports and is the Host of The Rauh Report Podcast and Wake Up! with Wowie and The Kid. You Can find all his written work here.
