Heim tops Rutschman in AL catcher All-Star voting

Perhaps it will work out anyway.

A team selects a player first in the draft, a generational talent, and makes him the key component in a rebuild. Expects him to move quickly through the farm system coming out of college. Expects him to be impactful.

To be an All-Star.

Catcher Adley Rutschman will need some help from players and the commissioner’s office after losing to the Rangers’ Jonah Heim in phase two of fan voting in the American League. The announcement came tonight on ESPN.

Rutschman is vying for a spot on the bench, with his stiffest competition likely Kansas City veteran Salvador Pérez, who finished third in phase one. Every team must be represented.

Closer Félix Bautista is expected to be chosen Sunday for the AL bullpen. Outfielder Austin Hays is a possibility for the bench after leading the American League in batting for much of the season before dropping to third at .314, and starter Tyler Wells ranks first in the majors in WHIP at 0.88. Setup man Yennier Cano also deserves consideration.

The Orioles haven’t had multiple representatives since 2016. Reliever Jorge López was chosen last year before being traded to the Twins at the deadline. Cedric Mullins started in 2021 as a replacement for injured outfielder Mike Trout.

Rutschman was trying to become the first Orioles catcher to win the fan voting since Matt Wieters in 2014. However, Wieters was unavailable while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Terry Kennedy is the last catcher in the organization to be voted in and play, back in 1987 in Oakland. Gus Triandos made the AL rosters in 1957 and 1958. He started behind the plate in ’58.

The final balloting this week left Rutschman with 48 percent of votes, compared to 52 percent for Heim. Rutschman won phase one handily with nearly 1.3 million votes.

Rutschman is hitting .268/.378/.411 in 76 games, with 11 doubles, 10 home runs, 34 RBIs, 52 walks and 48 strikeouts. He’s 9-for-51 against would-be basestealers. Heim is batting .279/.331/.469 in 71 games, with 17 doubles, 11 home runs, 55 RBIs, 20 walks and 51 strikeouts. He’s thrown out 10 of 38 runners attempting to steal.

Heim’s average, OPS, doubles and extra-base hits lead AL catchers, and his slugging percentage is second. His RBIs and hits (70) rank first in the majors. Rutschman leads the majors in walks and the AL in OBP at the position.

Teammates have spent the past few weeks citing reasons why Rutschman should be in Seattle, and in the lineup.

“I think he’s one of the best catchers in the game, and he deserves to be an All-Star and start,” said reliever Danny Coulombe.

“Obviously, to find a switch-hitting catcher who can hit from both sides of the plate is just so rare. But the thing I like about Adley the most, you can tell when he’s catching you, he cares. There’s a lot of catchers who have so much talent that they just kind of put down what’s convenient. You can tell his thought process is there, and he like genuinely lives and dies by how the pitcher does, and that’s just such a valuable trait in a catcher. You can’t teach it. It’s just an intangible that you either have or you don’t, and he has it.”

“He really deserves that,” said outfielder Anthony Santander. “He’s been a real key to the success we have in this first half. He’s a good leader in the clubhouse, and outside for the pitching staff. The pitchers have been doing really great. And he can really do it all. From the offensive side and the defensive side. And the hustle. You saw (Monday) night, that’s amazing when you have a guy like that playing that way. He deserves to be in the All-Star Game.”

“What can I tell you? He works really hard, and he’s earned every little bit of the recognition,” said shortstop Jorge Mateo.

“I personally voted for him. I think he definitely deserves to be in the All-Star Game, and he’s been great for us.”

The Orioles called up Rutschman on May 21, 2022, and the late start to the season, coupled with some early struggles, excluded him from true candidacy for the All-Star Game.

A former Orioles minor league catcher stood in his way of a start next month.

Heim was a fourth-round draft pick in 2013 out of Amherst Central (N.Y.) High School. The Orioles traded him to the Rays at the 2016 deadline for Steve Pearce, and they sent him to the Athletics a year later.

One more stop awaited Heim, who was dealt to the Rangers in February 2021 in the Elvis Andrus trade.

An overnight success at age 28.

“The hardest part about All-Star teams, I feel like, is on any given year you can look back and you’ve got three guys on a team that you say, ‘Man, if this had been a different year, I would have been an All-Star, different position, an All-Star.’ It’s not easy to do. It’s not easy to make an All-Star team,” said veteran Kyle Gibson, a former Rangers starter

“For Adley, it’s pretty clear he’s one of the best catchers in the American League, if not the whole game. Having thrown to both him and Jonah, it’s cool to have both of those guys. They’re both very well deserving. And Adley, just with what he’s done so quickly in his young career, it’s impressive. In today’s game, when you’re being thrown analytics on both sides – hitting and catching – and you’re having to filter through that information and prepare both sides of the ball and manage a whole staff, it’s a lot for a young player. And for him to handle it so well, for him to handle certain struggles at the plate and still be the same guy, it’s a testament to who he is.

“He’s having a special season and he’s going to be a lot of fun for Orioles fans to watch for a long time. So I don’t believe this will be his only All-Star Game. He’s embarking on a journey that hopefully is going to be pretty special.”