Orioles’ Midday Mailbag: How many games will Rutschman catch in 2024?

Every weekday, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.

Question: How many games do you think Adley Rutschman will play behind the plate this year as a percentage of the time he’s in the starting lineup? I assume he gets starts at DH both to get James McCann’s bat in the lineup and to conserve his body over the course of the long season? From: Raymond J. Mullady, Jr.

Answer: Ray, Last season, Rutschman started 104 games behind the plate and was the DH in 45 games. So far this year, Rutschman has started 21 games at catcher and 13 as DH. By the end of the season, I’d expect Rutschman to play about the same number of games behind the plate as he did last season.

Question: A logistical question. When the O’s play the Nationals in D.C., does the team commute back and forth from Baltimore for each game, or do they stay in D.C. for the series? From: Jeff Carson

Answer: Jeff, the Orioles stay in Washington, but players and staff can commute if they want to.