Adley Rutschman's first full minor league season has been special

BOWIE, Md. - After the Orioles selected Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, he went on to play in 37 minor league games that summer. This year, bumped up to Double-A Bowie, Rutschman already has 41 games under his belt and no O's minor league player has more plate appearances,

He's getting his work in and thriving, and so is his team.

If the O's had presented a wish list for his first full minor league season before this year began, he's checking most every box. Having a big year. Getting on the field every day. Catching some of the top pitching prospects the club has. Leading his team to one of the best records in minor league baseball.

And yes, getting closer and closer to the day the O's unveil at the big league level the No. 2 prospect in baseball.

In those 41 games for Bowie, Rutschman is batting .289/.424/.539 with five doubles, 11 homers, 32 runs and 30 RBIs. He is the only everyday player on the O's farm with as many walks (34) as strikeouts. He leads the O's organization on the farm in OBP and ranks second to J.D. Mundy of high Single-A Aberdeen in OPS at .964. He began play last night one homer behind Mundy for the O's lead and then hit one to tie him.

Bowie manager Buck Britton calls Rutschman a special talent who has been consistently good.

"His swing decisions are really good," said Britton. "This is a guy that understands the strike zone. He understands pitches he can do damage on and, you know, you kind of look up and you're like, 'Man, Adley is having a really good year.' But he's just kind of been the same guy every day. You look up and dang, he's hitting .300 with 10 homers already. It's not like he had a hot week or month, it's just steady."

Rutschman's walk rate of 18.3 ranks second-best on the O's farm behind only Aberdeen outfielder Dylan Harris.

"It's a big part of what we do," Rutschman said during a recent in-person interview at Prince George's Stadium. "Because we want to give ourselves the best chance to hit and do damage. And controlling the strike zone is a big part of that, and so we take a lot of pride in that,"

Bowie began its latest series Tuesday night with a 27-13 (.675) mark, before a loss to New Hampshire. Bowie held the best record in all of the minors for a time but lost its first series last week to lose that honor, dropping four of six to Akron. Still, it's been a great year overall for the Baysox.

Rutschman said a team of unselfish players who root hard for each other to succeed has been big this year for Bowie.

"That is just a big character thing," he said. "I think that comes with the people that you have. It's something you can't really coach. Something that has been established since Day One. We have a great group of guys, and that is really what it shows. To be around that just makes everything more fun. It's a real blessing to be a part of a group atmosphere like that."

Rutschman has made 25 starts behind the plate, 11 at first base and five as the DH. He is catching a staff that has the sixth-best ERA in the 12-team Northeast League, but has the No. 1 rotation ERA at 2.63 before last night. Led by top prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall (now on the injured list), Rutschman is catching some of the organization's top young talent almost nightly.

How is he trying to help the young arms get better?

"It's just really seeing what the coaches see," he said. "What the analytics team and what they themselves want. My job is help them out the best I know how, and what the coaches want me to do. I'm just kind of along for the ride and helping as best I can. But they really know what they're doing, and the coaching staff and everyone, we have a lot of trust here and that makes everything easier."

And they help him improve as a catcher.

"They are all different pitchers, so I get a lot of different angles, different pitch types, sequencing," Rutschman said. "So for me, it covers all angles and I'm able to work and get better every day."

Rutschman seems to be living up to the rather immense hype that surrounds him as he leads the Baysox to wins. Bowie has attracted some nice crowds and people are noticing what a talented young team is doing. O's fans can dream of a day when Rutschman is catching in Baltimore.

"As far as my timeline goes, I don't really know. I'm just about trying to get better every day," he said.