Recapping Rutschman presser and tonight's lineups

Catcher Adley Rutschman, the first overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft who signed his contract with the Orioles yesterday, will receive a few more awards this week before beginning his professional career.

The banquet circuit will be followed by a trip down to Sarasota, where Rutschman will report to the Gulf Coast League team. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Rutschman eventually will join short-season Single-A Aberdeen to conclude his first summer outside of collegiate competition.

Elias said it's going to be a slow process to "get him going after the layoff he's had."

"Then I expect that he will shortly thereafter join the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York Penn League and start his climb up our minor league ladder," Elias said.

The Orioles in past years have assigned some college players to low Single-A Delmarva and high Single-A Frederick, but Rutschman's ceiling in 2019 could be in Aberdeen.

"I think we'll let his play determine how fast he moves," Elias said. "Every player's different, every first round pick is different. We don't need to start him there if we don't want to, but I always believe in, when in doubt, starting them at the lower level because it's very easy to transfer them if they're performing well.

"We took a lot of college players this year and almost all of them will be starting off with that team. We've got a great franchise and a great facility there that's really close to Baltimore, so I think there are a lot of positives to starting his career there.

"He's done a lot in his life and his career so far to earn this opportunity and I'm very confident that he's going to seize it and taking it going forward to great places."

Rutschman was seated next to Elias during a 20-minute press conference. He tried on his Orioles jersey and cap, posed for photos and fielded questions.

He's learning how much excitement his arrival has generated within the organization and the fan base.

"It is very exciting," said Rutschman, who will catch and play first base. "I've been fortunate enough to be a part of a system at Oregon State that was kind of similar to this one. The fans are very close to everyone and everyone's very excited about it and so am I. And I think that motivates me, as well."

Brandon Verley has been a Northwest-based scout in the Orioles organization for the last nine drafts. The Rutschman signing represented the high-water mark in his career - a one/one joining the organization.

"It's a dream come true to not only be able to scout Adley but have a chance to be picking one/one and get him," Verley said. "I think most scouts go their whole careers without having this opportunity. It's definitely a dream come true. It's really incredible.

"To be able to scout a player like Adley for the last basically five years, can't say enough about him. Easiest decision to be able to say 'yes' to a player like that."

It's more than just the statistics compiled at Oregon State.

"The makeup's off the chart," said Verley, who didn't know that Rutschman was the choice until his name was announced. "The lineage of his family and the laser focus and the goals and how he affects everybody around him, it's remarkable. Just talking to players before him ... the impact that he had then and even coming in as a freshman on these other players, he was Captain America, he was the guy that they all looked at.

"The sky's the limit, really. I truly believe he hasn't reached ... I know all the accolades he's already accumulated, but he just quit playing football two years ago, so he's still got more upside to bring and I think just the way he goes about it and the way other players and everybody is attracted to him and wants to do whatever he's doing, because it's made him who he is. It will be special to see."

How quickly can Rutschman reach the majors?

"Well, there's lots of guys who think he could play there right now and I think you could put him there right now if you wanted," Verley said. "The learning curve would be a little tougher than if he was to climb, but as quickly as Mike and the guys at the top are ready to get him in there, I think he'll be ready to answer the call.

"Watching all these players as a scout, there's certain guys that you just can't take your eyes off right away and just how they move around and how they go about it and how they run to their position. Everything he did, you can't stop noticing."

Verley also noticed that Rutschman had no issues with adjusting to a wooden bat.

"I've seen him swing wood a number of times and he swung a wood bat in the fall. It's a simple transition for him," Verley said.

"You put anything in that kid's hands, he's going to hit the ball. You give him a toothpick and he'd figure out how to hit it."

The Orioles didn't provide any updates on second-rounder Gunnar Henderson and third-rounder Zach Watson. They reportedly have an agreement with Henderson, the prep shortstop from Alabama.

"We're still kind of working on a few fronts there," said assistant scouting director Brad Ciolek. "I can't really get into specifics since they're ongoing negotiations, but we're hopeful that we'll get a few more guys done here coming up in the next week or so."

The biggest fish was reeled in yesterday.

"Huge relief, man," Ciolek said. "It was a lot of hard work put in throughout the year by our scouts and our analytics people and it's nice when something comes together like this. It's a great feeling for everyone throughout the organization."

For the Orioles
Hanser Alberto 3B
Trey Mancini 1B
Pedro Severino C
Renato Núñez DH
Jonathan Villar 2B
Dwight Smith Jr. LF
Anthony Santander RF
Keon Broxton CF
Richie Martin SS

Jimmy Yacabonis RHP

For the Padres
Fernando Tatis Jr. SS
Eric Hosmer 1B
Manny Machado 3B
Hunter Renfroe LF
Franmil Reyes RF
Josh Naylor DH
Francisco Mejía C
Ian Kinsler 2B
Manuel Margot CF

Logan Allen LHP