Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman. Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Orioles young star has historic Opening Day performance

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 3/31/23

There is real sense of optimism for Baltimore Orioles fans this season, and the biggest reason for that is catcher Adley Rutschman.

The second-year standout got his 2023 season off to an incredible start on Thursday with an historic Opening Day performance that saw him go 5-for-5 with a home run while reaching base a sixth time via a walk.

That sort of Opening Day from a catcher is simply unheard of. Quite literally, as pointed out by Major League Baseball.

.@RutschmanAdley became the first catcher to have 5 hits and reach base 6 times on #OpeningDay since at least 1901.

(h/t @SlangsonSports) pic.twitter.com/3MIYUxl3Wr
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2023

As if the six times on base were not enough, he also had four RBI in the 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Here is a look at his first home run of the season.

ADLEY RUTSCHMAN JUST HOMERED ON HIS FIRST OPENING DAY!!! pic.twitter.com/jsnKMuvW1e
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 30, 2023

That is an incredible start to the season for a player the Orioles are counting no to be their next franchise player.

Rutschman ended up finishing second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting a year ago, finishing behind only Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez.

Rutschman hit .254 with 13 home runs and an .806 OPS in 113 games. Expectations are for him to be even better this season and you could not have possibly drawn up a better start for him (or the Orioles) on Thursday.

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