Poor Play From Baltimore Orioles Star Catcher Was Not Because He Was Injured

Despite the thought that the poor offensive output from the Baltimore Orioles star catcher was a result of injury, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Aug 14, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) stands on the field during the middle of the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles were swept out of the playoffs for the second year in a row.

This time it felt much different since this roster had more experience than last season when they catapulted to the No. 1 seed in the American League out of nowhere based on where their rebuilding process was at the time.

Because of that, the Orioles went out and tried to boost this group by landing ace Corbin Burnes and some pieces in their bullpen to help them be more equipped to make a deep playoff run.

It didn't work out that way, and while injuries certainly played a part, what was shockingly clear is that this offense has not been good enough for them to compete in the postseason as currently constructed.

Baltimore is eyeing making come changes to the coaching staff under manager Brandon Hyde who was confirmed to be coming back in 2025, so that will certainly be something to monitor. Ideally, the shift in offensive philosophy will help this young core be able to produce in the playoffs so they can avoid the early eliminations they have experienced during the first part of this era.

One player whose struggles were really under the microscope was Adley Rutschman.

The star catcher has been the face of this turnaround for the Orioles, and after he finished runner-up in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022, he immediately was tabbed as the next great player since he was once a No. 1 overall pick.

He lived up to that hype last season, but with a .207/.282/.303 slash line post All-Star break that resulted in an OPS+ of 107 and wRC+ of 104 for the year, his struggles became a major cause for concern.

Rutschman looked liked a shell of himself, failing to produce anything on offense consistently.

It was so bad that many people expected it to be revealed that he was dealing with some sort of injury that was the reason why his production plumetted.

Well, that apparently wasn't the case.

"The Orioles keep indicating that while Rutschman may have had the usual bumps and bruises, no injury was the main cause for his poor late-year stats," reports Steve Melewski of MASN.

General manager Mike Elias did state he wouldn't speak on an injury unprompted, so there is still a chance the young star was dealing with something and doesn't want to disclose anything yet.

However, it's more likely that Rutschman just struggled in the second half.

That happens to young players during the course of their careers, so it's imperative he figures out what went wrong after the All-Star break and make necessary adjustments.

He was so good during the first two years of his career with an offensive bWAR value of 9.1 and OPS+ and wRC+ values way above the league average that this blip isn't overly alarming, but this is something Baltimore would like to figure out sooner rather than later.