BALTIMORE — Adley Rutschman‘s first trip to the MLB injured list is about to be over.
The Orioles are scheduled to reinstate Rutschman from the 10-day IL ahead of Monday night’s series opener vs. the Blue Jays at Camden Yards, interim manager Tony Mansolino said Sunday. The 27-year-old catcher has been on the injured list since June 21 (retroactive to June 20) due to a left oblique strain.
Left-handed reliever Keegan Akin is also set to be reinstated on Monday, per Mansolino.
Rutschman is one of four Baltimore catchers who went on the injured list between June 21 and July 6. Gary Sánchez (right knee sprain) and Maverick Handley (right wrist sprain) remain on the IL, while Chadwick Tromp elected free agency after being outrighted upon his recovery from a lower back strain.
Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson have been splitting time behind the plate for the O’s for much of July. It’s possible both could stay on the roster for now, though, as the club may opt to carry three catchers to ease Rutschman back into action.
Mansolino recently said Rutschman could get more starts at designated hitter than usual once he returned, but the two-time All-Star is expected to be behind the plate Monday.
Through 68 games this season, Rutschman was hitting .227 with nine doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 20 RBIs and a .691 OPS. He went 2-for-15 (.133) with one double and three walks during his four-game rehab assignment for Triple-A Norfolk over the past week.
However, Rutschman was heating up prior to his IL stint — the first of his four-year MLB career — hitting .309 with two doubles, three homers, five RBIs and an .890 OPS over 15 games in June.
One of the biggest reasons for the disappointing season for the Orioles (46-58) — and a factor in why they’re selling at the Deadline — has been the underperformance of core players. In addition to Rutschman, others such as Colton Cowser (.682 OPS entering Sunday), Tyler O’Neill (.696 OPS) and more haven’t fared as well as expected heading into the year.
“The big leagues are hard, man. It’s so hard to hit in the big leagues right now,” Mansolino said. “And even though guys like that — [Cowser] and Adley — have the ability to be five-, six-, seven-time All-Star-caliber players, there are going to be points where they struggle. And I think we’ve seen that at times.
“I do think, in Adley’s case, we saw flashes of him coming out of it before he got hurt.”
Although wins and losses may become less important for Baltimore over the final two months of the season, the club intends to return to postseason contention in 2026. So it would be beneficial for star players such as Rutschman to build momentum toward next year.
The O’s have had 26 players spend time on the injured list this season. Their number on the IL will drop to 12 with the returns of Rutschman and Akin.
Baltimore will be glad to have Akin back in the bullpen, as its eight-man relief corps has featured only one left-hander (Grant Wolfram) since Gregory Soto was traded to the Mets on Friday. Akin had a 3.32 ERA in 39 games (three starts) prior to going on the IL.
