Baltimore Orioles Young Star Expected to Have Major Bounce Back Campaign

After some struggles in 2024, a Baltimore Orioles star is expected to get back on track at the plate in 2025.

Oct 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) hits a single against the Kansas City Royals in the fourth inning in game two of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

In the first half of the 2024 season, the Baltimore Orioles played at an incredibly high level, looking like legitimate World Series contenders.

In the first week of July, they were 24 games over the .500 mark and rolling right along. However, from that point on, the team played under .500 baseball through the end of the regular season.

Despite a flurry at the end, where they won five out of six games, it was too little too late as the Orioles couldn’t regain their form in the postseason, getting swept by the Kansas City Royals in the AL Wild Card series.

While many people focused on the pitching staff for the team’s shortcomings down the stretch, it was actually their lineup that let them down.

Producing runs became a struggle for the Orioles as their lineup dealt with some injuries and ineffectiveness.

One of the culprits in the letdown was their star catcher Adley Rutschman.

Despite making the All-Star team for the second time in his career, the third-year backstop had the least productive season to this point as a professional.

His slash line of .250/.318/,391, all lows for a single season. He wasn’t taking as many walks and his hard-hit rate dropped with a league-average exit velocity.

Through June, however, Rutschman was playing at the level we have become accustomed to seeing him perform. He hit 15 home runs with 55 RBI, a reliable player near the top of the lineup for manager Brandon Hyde.

As Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com wrote, “He appeared to be on his way toward another big year in 2024, slashing .306/.344/.490 with a 138 wRC+ over his first 61 games.”

From July on, he turned into a liability. He hit only six home runs and his overall production plummeted, recording a wRC+ of 78 over the final 87 games of the year.

There were rumors that he may have been dealing with an injury since it was so peculiar how lackluster his level of performance was.

Whatever the reason may have been for the drop in production, don’t expect it to happen again in 2025.

The talented catcher is expected to return to his All-Star form, with an improvement of +1.8 WAR according to Harrigan.

FanGraphs has shared a projection of 4.6 WAR, a significant increase from the 2.6 he had last year. The 122 wRC+ that he is projected for is elite as well.

That WAR improvement would be tied for eighth most in baseball along with Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim.

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