Inside Adley Rutschman’s Hitting Turnaround With Baltimore Orioles

Once touted as the savior of the organization, Orioles catcher Rutschman has proved his weight in salt this season with a new approach at the plate.

May 8, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) celebrates after hitting a home run during the sixth inning against the Athletics at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Adley Rutschman has found himself to be the talk of the town in Baltimore once more.

The Orioles catcher missed 11 games with left ankle inflammation, but has otherwise looked healthier this season.

His aggression at the plate has allowed for less strikeouts, more hard-hit balls and more balls in play.

Rutschman’s slash line is .304/.360/.565 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of .925. His OPS+ is at 160, per Baseball Reference. His wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) is 158, per FanGraphs. To further explain these statistics, MLB.com states that “OPS+ takes a player's on-base plus slugging percentage and normalizes the number across the entire league,” while “wRC+ is a stat that measures a hitter's overall offensive value compared to league average.”

In other words, Rutschman is raking and is 58-60 points better than the average MLB hitter (an OPS+ or wRC+ of 100 is a roughly league average hitter). Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani won the 2025 National League Most Valuable Player award with a 181 OPS+ and 172 wRC+, while New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge won the AL MVP with a 211 OPS+ and a 204 wRC+.

Rutschman’s line drive percentage is 29.9% this season – significantly higher than where it was in 2024 (22.5%), which was his last All-Star season. This has shown in his hard hit percentage skyrocketing at 45.3% – the highest of his career.

His increase in production this season is visualized through his metrics on Baseball Savant. While his average exit velocity (89.2 miles per hour) and barrel percentage (8.0%) are around league average, he’s his expected weighted on-base average, which according to Baseball Savant tells “the story of a player's season based on quality of and amount of contact, not outcomes,” is .350, his expected batting average is .278, expected slugging percentage is .465 – each high marks.

Baseball Savant

Among other numbers, his hard hit % (45.3%), sweet spot percentage (40%), squared up percentage (30.8), chase rate (26.5%), whiff percentage (12.7%) and strikeout percentage (13.5%) are all very good marks. 

Furthermore, Rutschman has been better against every pitch. He batted .245 and .453 slugging percentage against four-s\eam fastballs last year and is now batting .313 with a .594 slugging percentage this season. He’s hitting changeups better – going from a .122 batting average and .195 slugging percentage. The same goes for cutters (.205 BA and .385 SLG in 2025 vs. a .333 BA and .520 SLG in 2026) and sweepers (.143 BA and .143 SLG in 2025 vs. a .375 BA and .500 SLG in 2026).

The ability for Rutschman to split time between catcher and designated hitter with Samuel Basallo has been important for his health. While the aforementioned 2019 first overall pick’s batting average as a designated hitter has been significantly below the Mendoza line at .083, his gleaming numbers at catcher (.321) look strong. Rutschman’s wRC+ as a catcher this season is 178.

His moniker of “Adley Clutchman” his shown itself to be at the forefront for his 2026 campaign. Rutschman is mashing in middle and high leverage situations with a 166 and 228 wRC+ respectively. His wRC+ with men on base is 193 and 162 with men in scoring position.

Most of Rutschman’s at-bats (58 this season) have come as the three hole hitter and he’s been at his best with a .328 batting average and all five of his home runs have come from this spot. He’s also been strong in the four hole, notching a .292 batting average.

His batting is balanced on both sides of the plate (159 wRC+ from the left side vs. 155 from the right). His home splits are dominant – .365/.411/.712 and a wRC+ of 212.

There isn’t a large sample size this season, but this is an encouraging sign for the 18-23 Orioles who need one of their biggest stars to continue to shine. The fourth-place Orioles and Rutschman are set to take on the first-place New York Yankees in an American League East battle on Monday at 6:35 p.m.