Rutschman’s second-half struggles were a huge story for 2024 Orioles

Not long after the disappointing Game 2 loss in the Wild Card Series, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was hit with a question he had grown weary of answering.

“The problems Adley had in the second half, can you figure it out at all? That’s all I get asked by people,” Hyde was asked.

Hyde wasn’t in the mood to elaborate on the bad second half by Orioles All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman, but he addressed it.

“I’ve answered this question a million times,” Hyde said. “I think that it’s a young player that just was dealing with some adversity. Giving everything he had on a daily basis, trying to get out of it, maybe trying too hard at times … I think he’s going to come back next year, and I think he’s going to be a different player.”

The two principal complaints among Oriole fans since the early postseason elimination have been the lack of clutch hitting and Rutschman’s decline.

Rutschman was elected as the American League’s All-Star catcher, and he went to Arlington, Texas for the game with a .270 average, a .780 OPS, 16 home runs and 59 RBIs.

In the second half, he hit just .207 with a .585 OPS and only three home runs and 20 RBIs.

Some things were clear. He hit better when he was a designated hitter (.298, .854 OPS) than a catcher (.231, .650 OPS) and the switch-hitter hit better as a right-hander (.329, .902 OPS) than a left-hander (.219, .631 OPS).

It didn’t help when the Orioles lost in the Wild Card to the Kansas City Royals, whose star player was shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Witt was taken directly after Rutschman in the 2019 draft. There was a spirited debate in the Orioles organization about which player to select, and Rutschman was the winner.

Rutschman had to watch Witt and the Royals celebrate on his home field while the Orioles had a second straight early end to their postseason hopes. Witt drove in the game-winning run in both games.

“It’s tough to take it in,” Rutschman said about being eliminated in just two games while scoring just one run. “You’re not going to be showing up tomorrow.”

Rutschman is not one for introspection, at least not publicly. He didn’t specifically address a second half that was as mystifying as it was frustrating.

“I was going through a lot of stuff with the hitting coaches,” he said. “I was in the cage every single day, looking at stuff, working on stuff. Your body goes through a lot of things during the season. I’ll be over it and ready to go for spring training.”

A few weeks earlier, with his team slumping, Rutschman insisted he was fine physically. He was scratched from one game with back soreness, but was quickly back in the lineup. In his nearly three years with the Orioles, he hasn’t been on the injured list.

The day after Rutschman said his goodbyes, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias was asked if there was anything physically wrong.

“There is not an injury that I would speak to of any nature,” Elias said.

Rutschman’s fielding also regressed.

According to FanGraphs, Rutschman was the eighth-highest catcher in 2024 with a 2.8 WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a huge drop from his 5.4 WAR in 2023 when he placed second. Milwaukee’s William Contreras was the leader both years.

Rutschman also lagged in pitch framing, ranked just 41^st of 58 catchers, according to Baseball Savant. In 2023, Rutschman was 11^th of 63.

Elias remains steadfast in his belief in Rutschman.

“Physically, he’s a catcher, he gives his all to this team and this position when he’s out there, and he’s naturally tired,” he said. “A lot of these guys are tired. I think we’re all tired. But so are other teams in the league, that’s not an excuse. I think he’s said as much. He has done so much here, kind of turned our organization around — or a big part of it.

“Turned around cultures, both in the minor leagues and the major leagues. Has been such a key to our ascent that it’s been very frustrating for him, and for us, to see him experience the degree of struggles that he did in the second half, really for the first time since we’ve had him. But he is an elite competitor, an athlete, and he’s our guy. I have nothing but confidence that he’s going to be back to Adley Rutschman in 2025.”

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