After the canceled 2020 minor league season, Rutschman was assigned to the Double-A
Bowie Baysox to start the 2021 season.[19] In June 2021, Rutschman was selected to play in the
All-Star Futures Game.[20] On August 9, 2021, Rutschman was promoted to Triple-A
Norfolk Tides, after slashing a .271/.392/.508, with 18 home runs and 55 RBIs in 80 games with Bowie. He batted a .312/.405/.490 with 5 home runs and 20 RBIs in 43 games with Norfolk.
Rutschman competed for a spot on the Orioles 2022
Opening Day roster, but he missed the start of the season due to a strained
triceps muscle.[21] He began a rehabilitation assignment with Aberdeen on April 26.[22] On May 21, 2022, Rutschman was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[23] During his first game, that same day, he got the start playing catcher and batting 6th in the lineup. His first major league at-bat resulted in a strikeout, but two at-bats later, he got his first hit, a triple.[24] He was the first major-leaguer to accomplish that feat (a triple for his first MLB hit) since Jason Perry did so in his first Major League at-bat for the Atlanta Braves in 2008. On June 15, Rutschman hit his first major league home run off
Toronto Blue Jays starter
José Berríos.[25] Rutschman finished the season hitting .254/.362/.445 with 35 doubles, 13 home runs and 42 RBIs in 113 games with Baltimore. He was voted the winner of the 2022 Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award by members of the local media.[26]
On Opening Day in the 2023 season, Rutschman batted 5-for-5 with a home run, becoming the first MLB player to do so on Opening Day since 1937.[27] He was selected to his first
All-Star Game in 2023 after putting up a .273/.376/.423 slash line with 12 home runs in the first half of the season.[28][29] Rutschman was also selected to participate in the
2023 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, where he hit 27 home runs in the first round but was eliminated by
Chicago White Sox slugger
Luis Robert Jr.'s 28 home runs. Rutschman, a
switch hitter, notably hit 20 home runs left handed and 7 home runs right handed in his derby appearance.[30] On August 10, 2023, Rutschman became the first Oriole to homer over the extended left field wall while batting left handed, launching a leadoff homer off of
Houston Astros starter
Hunter Brown.[31] Rutschman won the AL
Silver Slugger Award among catchers.[32]
On Opening Day 2024, Rutschman became the first player to reach base safely in at least each of his first eight career plate appearances on Opening Day since
Joe Lahoud, who also reached safely in eight consecutive plate appearances from 1968-1972. Rutschman went 2-4 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBI to open the season in Baltimore's 11-3 victory over the Angels.
Personal life
His grandfather,
Ad Rutschman, was a football and baseball coach at
Linfield College and is a member of the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.[33]
Rutschman's nickname "Rooster" came from his inspiration to grow a mustache like the fictional character Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw from the film Top Gun: Maverick.[34]