What's Behind Baltimore Orioles Star's Recent Power Surge?

Here's why Baltimore Orioles star Adley Rutschman is suddenly hitting more homers.

May 15, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Adley Rutschman (35) homers. / Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

During the first two years of his career, Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman wasn't a huge power hitter. He had good pop (especially for a backstop), but a 13-homer season and a 20-homer season aren't anything to write home about, especially in today's day and age.

Now in his third season, Rutschman is taking his game to new heights. The 26-year-old has leveled up as a hitter, posting career highs in batting average (.314), slugging percentage (.509) and OPS (.859).

One of the most noticeable changes about him this year has been his power stroke. After clubbing twice as many doubles (66) as home runs (33) over his first two seasons, he now has more homers (nine) than doubles (six) for the first time in his career. He's already nearly halfway to last year's homer total, and it's only mid-May.

What's more, Rutschman has homered in his last three games, including the first multi-homer game of his career on Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

On Thursday, MLB Network's Mark DeRosa took a closer look at Rutschman's new approach and how it's yielding more homers.

Adley Rutschman has 4 homers over his last 3 games after yesterday's thrilling walk-off!@markdero7 takes a look at the @Orioles star and his advanced approach at the plate. #MLBCentral pic.twitter.com/a7qRvwOc4P

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 16, 2024

Right off the bat, DeRosa compared Rutschman to former San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, who had a similar batting profile to Rutschman. Posey wasn't a massive power guy either with 158 career homers and a high of 24, but that didn't stop him from winning an MVP and becoming one of the best all-around hitters in baseball.

DeRosa noted that Rutschman is being more aggressive on pitches in the strike zone and trying to pull the ball more in the air. The stats back that up, as Rutschman's walk rate has plummeted from 13.4% to 5.0% year-over-year. He's also sporting the highest pull rate (36.0%) and fly-ball rate (32.4%) of his career.

These changes are paying off, as Rutschman is hitting the ball harder than ever before. His hard-hit rate (48.2%), line-drive rate (28.1%) and average exit velocity (90.0 mph) are all career highs.

Time will tell if Rutschman maintains this approach going forward or if pitchers adjust by trying to get him to chase outside the zone more. DeRosa also observed that Rutschman leads the league in first-pitch take percentage, which pitchers could try to exploit by throwing strike one past him.

But for now, Rutschman's producing at an MVP level and the Orioles are winning plenty of games because of it.