CHICAGO — Adley Rutschman has arrived.
Sure, the top prospect in baseball and the Orioles’ farm system reached the majors just more than a month ago. But the player who inspired all that hype has been bubbling in recent days, coming to the surface in full force in Thursday night’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox. Rutschman homered and added an RBI double to supply Baltimore’s first three runs and caught the Orioles’ third shutout in six games in a 4-0 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The performance was the greatest evidence yet that Rutschman’s bat is approaching the lofty expectations placed upon it when baseball’s top prospect first joined the Orioles (32-39). Over the past two weeks, Rutschman is batting .326/.370/.651, with 10 of his 14 hits going for extra bases. Baltimore is 15-15 since promoting him to the majors.
