Adley Rutschman was thrilled his first All-Star Game appearance will come at the first major league ballpark he ever went to. But it won’t be the only highlight of the Orioles catcher’s week at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.
Rutschman Monday that he will be among the participants in July 10′s Home Run Derby, the second time in three years an Oriole has been in the field. Trey Mancini was the runner-up in the 2021 event.
Rutschman’s father, Randy, will throw to him in the competition. Rutschman described that choice as the “easiest decision,” especially with Randy having thrown him batting practice as recently as this offseason.
“Just one of those things that I think you dream about as a kid,” Rutschman said. “To be able to do it with my dad, it’s awesome.
“We talked about it in the past, just if I were to do a Home Run Derby, ‘Would he be the one?’ The answer for me has always been him. We knew.”
Rutschman, a native of Sherwood, Oregon, has 11 home runs this year, his first full season in the majors. The 25-year-old was a finalist to start the All-Star Game for the American League after winning the first phase of fan voting by a sizable margin, but he lost a narrow head-to-head vote to Texas Rangers backstop Jonah Heim.
With the week’s festivities about a 3 1/2-hour drive from his hometown, Rutschman said he’s already heard from a lot of people interested in attending. He’s grateful for the recognition, and what he said will be his first Home Run Derby since he was 8 years old, will come in a place he considers “home.”
“It’s the best,” Rutschman said. “Seattle is the place that I grew up going to, first stadium I ever went to, so it means a lot. I know a lot of people out there, and so basically home.”
The first overall pick in the 2019 draft, Rutschman joins a field that also features Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez (who won the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year award with Rutschman as the runner-up), Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena and New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso is a two-time winner of the event, beating Mancini in the 2021 finals.
Rutschman enters Monday with the fewest home runs of the incomplete field, though he’s not far behind Rodríguez’s 13 and Guerrero’s 12. Alonso’s 25 home runs are baseball’s third most, while Betts is tied for fifth with 22.
Although the event has been known to prompt players to alter their swings, Rutschman didn’t seem overly concerned with that possibility. A switch-hitter, he figured he would take hacks from the left side.
“I’m going to have my normal swing until the Home Run Derby,” Rutschman said, “and then I guess we’ll just figure it out on that day, what we want to do.”
Rutschman’s impact goes far beyond his power. From the start of the 2018 season that gave Baltimore the chance to draft Rutschman until the day before he made his debut May 21, 2022, the Orioles won fewer than a third of their games, finishing with one of baseball’s five worst records in each full season. But since Rutschman’s arrival, Baltimore is 116-88 — a 92-win pace over 162 games. This year, the Orioles are 49-33 and have the AL’s third-best record, with Rutschman’s impact on both sides of the ball key in that success.
Rutschman’s involvement in the Home Run Derby adds to what already figured to be a banner week for the Orioles. Outfielder Austin Hays and relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano , and prospects Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad will .
Baltimore sent players to the Home Run Derby each year from 2013 to 2016, but since the event’s inception in 1985, the only Orioles to win were Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991 and Miguel Tejada in 2004. Rutschman would be the first catcher to take the crown.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “So cool that he’s gonna have that experience and it’s always fun watching somebody you know really well. That’s a lot of pressure. Everybody’s pulling for him. I remember when Trey was doing it a couple years ago. … You’re pulling for them so hard, and it’s so hard to do. It’s way harder than people think.
“Nothing would surprise me, results-wise, if he puts on a show.”
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