Adley Rutschman Named O's Player of the Month
SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds, in conjunction with the Baltimore Orioles, are pleased to announce that catcher Adley Rutschman has been named the organization's Minor League Player of the Month for August.Rutschman, a 21-year-old from Portland, Oregon, put up stout numbers in 27 games between short-season Aberdeen and Class-A
SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds, in conjunction with the Baltimore Orioles, are pleased to announce that catcher
Rutschman, a 21-year-old from Portland, Oregon, put up stout numbers in 27 games between short-season Aberdeen and Class-A Delmarva in August, slashing .258/.359/.412 with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs, 21 RBIs, 14 runs scored, and a .771 OPS.
After receiving a promotion from the Gulf Coast League to Aberdeen on July 27, Rutschman caught fire with the IronBirds on August 9, igniting a 10-game hitting streak that saw him slash .462/.521/.744 and drive in 14 runs. The crown jewel of the streak came on August 19 when he went 5-for-5 with a triple, homer, and four RBIs. He also had the best seat in the house for the first no-hitter in Aberdeen history, catching for pitchers
One day after his five-hit outburst, the Orioles announced Rutschman's promotion to Delmarva. He made his debut with the Shorebirds on August 21, becoming the first-ever No. 1 overall pick to suit up for the home team at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Rutschman caught five different pitchers in a combined two-hit shutout that night as the Shorebirds downed Greensboro 1-0. One week later he hit his first Delmarva home run, a two-run blast at Lakewood on August 27.
Rutschman, currently the Orioles' top prospect and the No. 6 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball, really found his stroke during the Shorebirds' brief run in September. He went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in his final regular season game on September 1. In Game 1 of the Northern Division Championship Series at Hickory on September 4, Rutschman drove in the Shorebirds' first run with a first-inning RBI double. Two days later he notched Delmarva's only two hits in Game 2 against the Crawdads; he also found himself involved in a defensive rundown play in the seventh and threw out a would-be basestealer at second base in the ninth, helping to preserve a scoreless deadlock into extra innings.
The Orioles drafted Rutschman first overall out of Oregon State in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft. His signing scout was Brandon Verley.
The Shorebirds finished the 2019 season claiming four of the Orioles' monthly minor league honors.