Baltimore Orioles Slated to Have Best Catcher in Baseball Come 2030

During a season such as the one the Baltimore Orioles are currently in the midst of, there is not much to look forward to in the immediate future.

The team has played to an unexpectedly bad 15-28 record entering Saturday, sitting in last in the American League East, 14th in the American League, and 27th in MLB. Things have not gone according to plan, to say the least.

In times like these, it sometimes becomes best to look to the future. While the Orioles have built a strong offensive core, none of them can really be considered the best in the sport at their position...yet.

For catcher Adley Rutschman, the title of Best Catcher in Baseball is his for the taking. Come 2030, that moniker may firmly belong to him.

Orioles Catcher Adley Rutschman Predicted To Be Best Catcher in Baseball in 2030

A recent article from Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report took a look at all of the catchers expected to still be playing at some level five years from now. Miller predicts Rutschman to be the best in the sport at his position by that season.

"Despite a sluggish second half last season and a slow start to the 2025 campaign," writes Miller, "Adley Rutschman still looks like the best bet to be baseball's premier catcher in the years to come."

It has been a struggle of late for the catcher. Over the second half of 2024, Rutschman batted just .207/.282/.303 with three home runs and 20 RBI. To this point in the 2025 campaign, he has batted just .214/.309/.345 with four home runs and 11 RBI. But the world knows what the catcher is capable of.

Across the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Rutschman batted .268/.369/.439 with 33 home runs and 122 RBI. The strong first two campaigns of his career have many believing in the hype that surrounded him as a prospect, with some already claiming he is the BCIB.

The struggles are certainly puzzling, and it could come down to just how much Rutschman has played to this point in his career. Catching is hard, one of the hardest positions on a player's body, and since his debut, Rutschman has played in 456 games, second only to Cal Raleigh for a catcher. 339 of those have come behind the plate.

Even with the recent struggles, the future is bright for Rutschman. It would be very surprising to many if he is not the best catcher in baseball come 2030, if not even sooner than that.