TORONTO — For all his talents, Adley Rutschman’s greatest strength might just be his ability to discern balls from strikes, a model of the swing decision-based development plan that floods the Orioles’ minor league system. At times, it’s burned him, with his awareness of the strike zone perhaps sharper than that night’s home-plate umpire.
On Tuesday, when he dropped his bat head on Toronto Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah’s slider just below the strike zone, he showed that the area in which he can do damage is expansive. His solo shot came two pitches after Cedric Mullins also delivered one, with the back-to-back home runs evening a game the Orioles eventually won, 4-2, to move within half a game of Toronto for an American League wild-card spot.
The Orioles (61-55) were eight games under .500 when Rutschman, then the game’s top prospect, was called up to the majors for the first time, and he has been transformative on both sides of the ball. In his past 54 games — a span that is a third of a full major league season — the 24-year-old has hit .283/.395/.516 with 22 doubles, seven home runs and a 36-to-34 strikeout-to-walk ratio to firmly plant himself within the AL Rookie of the Year race.
