The No. 1 pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2019, Adley Rutschman has seemed to be destined for stardom since his days at Oregon State.
After a solid but inconsistent rookie season, Rutschman made his sophomore debut on Opening Day as his Orioles took on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park Thursday afternoon.
If that we saw in the first game of the season is any indication, Rutschman is going to make that sophomore jump. He homered off Red Sox starter Corey Kluber in his first at-bat of the season.
After homering over the short right-field fence in his first at-bat, Rutschman sprayed the ball all over the field inside Fenway Park to the tune of a five-hit game.
He reached all six times he took the plate, pacing the Orioles with a 10-9 win. More than anything, Rutschman’s opposite-field ability was on full display.
All said, the young backstop put up that homer and four singles while walking once in what was an historic performance from the 25-year-old. Here’s just a few notes on what we saw from Rutschman Thursday afternoon in Boston.
- Rutschman joins Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk (1973) as the only catcher to hit a home run and reach base at least four times on Opening Day since 1901.
- Rutschman became the first catcher to record five hits on Opening Day in MLB history.
- He’s just the third player in MLB history to go 5-for-5 with multiple RBI on Opening Day, joining the likes of Hall of Famers Billy Herman and Babe Ruth.
Rutschman was pretty decent from the plate as a rookie. He hit .254 with 13 homers, 42 RBI and an .806 OPS.
However, it appears that Rutschman is about to take that next step for an Orioles squad that could surprise in the American League East this season.
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