Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was in the minor leagues until late May.
The O’s were 16-24 when he was called up.
How did they finish?
83-79.
Yes: Rutschman came up to transform the whole organization with his immense talent, both at the plate and behind it.
Defensively, Rutschman has it all: he can block balls on the dirt, he has a strong, accurate arm, he can steal strikes with excellent framing skills and, above all, he knows how to get the best out of his pitchers.
Usually, when you get this kind of stellar defensive package, you don’t get much offensively.
It’s the way it is.
But Rutschman is different: he was the number one overall pick in the 2019 Draft for a reason.
He also has an explosive bat.
Look at this video.
Adley Rutschman 🚀🔥
• Calm -> short load -> explosive unload pic.twitter.com/24lVhggcVg
— Trey Hannam (@TJHannam10) November 11, 2022
This shows how explosive his swing is.
Hitters don’t necessarily need a huge leg kick to generate power.
In Rutschman’s, his timing mechanism is a small leg kick (not even a toe tap), but it gives him time to catch the ball upfront with his legs and hips.
A Simple, But Explosive Swing
It’s a quick, explosive movement that has given him great results,
In his rookie season, he had 13 home runs and 35 doubles: that’s more than enough power for a stellar defensive catcher.
But the swing is not the only element that makes a successful hitter.
What happens before starting the swing matters, too: plate discipline.
Rutschman has an innate ability to discern balls from strikes, resulting in sound swing decisions.
He rarely chases, and usually punishes strikes.
If he doesn’t like a ball, he lays off it.
His batting line was a cool .254/.362/.445.
That on-base percentage is sweet, and it tells the whole story: Rutschman is special in all facets of the game.
NEXT: Adley Rutschman Got Surprising Support In The ROY Race