Coaching staff tweaks occur almost every offseason, and the disappointing finish to 2024 made some changes inevitable for the Orioles
That’s why the reported departures — the club hasn’t confirmed them publicly — of hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte came as little surprise on the heels of Baltimore’s offensive struggles down the stretch and during its abrupt postseason run. Though bench coach Fredi González and major league coach José Hernández were less predictable exits, many variables go into these decisions for the involved parties. Whether general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde look outside the organization or internally to fill these openings remains to be seen, but planning has already begun for the 2025 season.
Speaking to a New York Post podcast last week, Elias reiterated his confidence in the new ownership group having “the wherewithal to allow us to run this franchise optimally” while emphasizing the need to be smart and responsible in doing so. In other words, David Rubenstein’s potential willingness to write fat checks hardly guarantees the Orioles will try to re-sign ace Corbin Burnes or right fielder Anthony Santander, let alone actually do it.
But regardless of how the Orioles proceed in forming the 2025 coaching staff and roster, one of their top priorities is making sure two-time All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman returns to form after a disastrous second half. This was more than your typical slump as Rutschman went from an All-Star slash line of .294/.350/.471 through June 30 to a replacement-level .194/.278/.286 over the remainder of the regular season. He then went 1-for-8 with two strikeouts in the two-game Wild Card sweep to Kansas City.
A closer look shows no meaningful silver linings or bright spots in the second half as the switch-hitting Rutschman produced monthly on-base plus slugging percentages of .482 in July, .625 in August, and .578 in September, which were three of the four worst months of his career to go with his first partial month in the majors in May 2022 (.529). After the first three months of 2024 in which he posted a 1.073 OPS against left-handed pitching and an underwhelming but still acceptable .703 mark against right-handers, he was poor from both sides of the plate with a .614 OPS against lefties and a .547 mark against righties after July 1.
The dramatic collapse in production screamed potential injury with many pointing to Rutschman taking a foul tip off his right hand on June 27 despite negative X-rays and just a one-game absence. Others have noted the lower back discomfort that sidelined him for parts of two games in mid-August. After the Orioles were swept by Kansas City in the Wild Card Series, Rutschman did mention needing to get his body right — though declining to be more specific — but Elias has now twice denied that he was playing through an injury beyond the normal wear and tear that accompanies the catcher position.
For what it’s worth, Rutschman caught 52 1/3 fewer innings than he did in 2023 as backup James McCann handled an expanded workload and outperformed him in the second half. Rutschman ranked 12th in the majors in innings caught (882 1/3) in his age-26 season, so there isn’t much reason to argue that he broke down from being overworked.
“He had a very uncharacteristic and very disappointing second half for him after being an All-Star in the first half,” Elias told the New York Post. “There’s no apt reason I could provide for it. It’s something that we’ve talked about with him, that he’s talking about. I’m sure he will learn from it and adjust like we all do, but there’s nothing that I could encapsulate quickly that would describe why he had a few months that were below his standards. But he’s not going to do it again next year.”
Elias also denied Rutschman was playing through an injury when he addressed local reporters the day after the Baltimore was eliminated from the postseason.
Continuing to hide a Rutschman injury into the offseason — which would only serve to make the catcher look bad — makes very little sense, so the apparent absence of one makes his second half even more confounding. After all, this is the individual Elias describes as “maybe the primary engine in turning around the franchise, the culture” from the time the rebuilding Orioles selected Rutschman first overall in the 2019 amateur draft.
It’s fair to note that even the first three months of 2024 were somewhat peculiar for Rutschman, who had robust walk rates of 13.8% and 13.4% in his first two major league seasons. Diverting from that ultra-patient approach, Rutschman saw a spike in both home runs (15) and slugging (.471) while his walk rate fell to 8.1% through the end of June. As those power numbers crashed, his walk rate did rise (10.3%), but not to the level of previous seasons.
Might the more aggressive approach at the plate be to blame despite its initial success? Did an ultra-consistent hitter over his first two seasons lose his identity and spiral as the struggles mounted?
We know this is an extremely difficult sport for even the best of the best, but Rutschman’s second half remains unnerving if health wasn’t a meaningful factor. One of the Orioles’ very best players becoming their worst regular was a significant contributor to the second-half swoon in addition to the well-documented injuries the roster endured on both the pitching and position player fronts.
Whomever the Orioles appoint as hitting coach must be ready and able to help Rutschman put this season behind him. He’s too important to 2025 and beyond to let it happen again.
NOTES: On Tuesday, left fielder Colton Cowser underwent surgery to have his fractured left hand repaired with the procedure being performed by Dr. Donald Sheridan in Phoenix. Cowser is expected to be ready for the start of spring training in mid-February. … First baseman Ryan Mountcastle and Cowser have been named AL Gold Glove finalists at their respective positions. Mountcastle is up against Nathaniel Lowe of Texas and Minnesota’s Carlos Santana while Cowser is contesting with New York Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo and Cleveland’s Steven Kwan. The winners will be announced Nov. 3.
