BALTIMORE — Camden Yards could smell blood in the water, but Adley Rutschman couldn’t bite.
With two outs in the fifth inning of a tied wild-card Game 2, the Orioles’ franchise catcher found himself on stage.
An Oriole occupied every base. Rutschman’s team had, earlier in the frame, tallied its first run of the series on a galvanizing, game-tying home run from Cedric Mullins. That blast sent an understandably frustrated home crowd into total delirium. The hysteria only grew in strength as the next three Orioles reached, loading the bases with nobody out.
After 13 innings of scoreless ineptitude, the impatient sea of black and orange had a reason to roar. For the first time all series, the O’s had the Royals — and starting pitcher Seth Lugo — on the ropes. But instead of delivering what could’ve been the knockout blow in Wednesday’s eventual 2-1 loss, Baltimore put its gloves down, offered some water and tossed Kansas City a towel.
Anthony Santander, he of 44 regular-season home runs, popped out overeagerly for the first out. That brought in hard-throwing Royals reliever Angel Zerpa. The next Baltimore hitter, outfielder Colton Cowser, went down hacking … literally. Cowser, who seemingly decided before the pitch to swing, went around on a ball that clonked him in the hand as he fell to the dirt.
It was one of the most bizarre strikeouts you’ll ever see.
Those two outs threatened to stifle the rally and dampen the excitement. A nervous stadium rolled its eyes, as if to say, “Here we go again.” But when a still-wild Zerpa started Rutschman off with a pair of balls, Birdland rediscovered its voice.
Theoretically, it was the kind of scenario the O’s and their fans would dreamed about. Their homegrown franchise catcher at the plate in a playoff game with a chance to be the hero. A raucous, desperate, passionate crowd conjuring a wall of noise. A pitcher losing control.
The entire stadium knew that Zerpa, not wanting to go down 3-0 and risk walking in a run, had to throw Rutschman a strike. Rutschman, who has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, his confidence evaporating in a cloud of passivity, must have known this, too. He had to be ready for a fastball. He was almost certainly going to see a hittable pitch.
On the ESPN broadcast, commentator Ben McDonald, a regular on Baltimore’s home broadcast and thus quite familiar with the club, made note of the moment and Rutschman’s role in it.
“These are the situations [Orioles manager] Brandon Hyde wants to see Adley Rutschman be more aggressive, right?” McDonald remarked in his trademark Cajun drawl. “Bases loaded, 2-0 count, go hunt that fastball. If you get it, get your swing off, and be aggressive.”
The heater came.
But Rutschman, like his club had done all series, blinked in the spotlight.
He couldn’t pull the trigger. Zerpa’s fastball zipped into the catcher’s mitt, smack-dab in the middle of the plate. Strike one.
Rutschman, upon taking the pitch, stood frozen in his stance for a notably long time, as if rendered to stone by regret. On the broadcast, McDonald groaned.
Asked after the game whether he would have done anything differently with his approach during that at-bat, Rutschman replied, “I would have gotten a hit.”
Two pitches later, Rutschman grounded out sharply to Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the player taken directly after the Baltimore catcher in the 2019 MLB Draft. A half-inning later, Kansas City retook the lead on an infield single from Witt. The Orioles did not threaten again, failing to even push a runner to second base over the final four frames. Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson struck out to end the game, the series and Baltimore’s season.
Across 18 innings in this wild-card series, the Birds’ highly touted offense managed one measly run. Kansas City pitched extremely well, but Baltimore helped them along, going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Henderson, who clobbered 37 home runs during the regular season, finished the two games 0-for-7 with three strikeouts. No Orioles hitter, save for Mullins, looked comfortable or calm.
And while Rutschman’s lockjaw moment was not the sole reason for Baltimore’s early October exit, his 2-0 take embodied the team’s downfall.
A talented young player on a talented young team, in the make-or-break hour, buried by indecision. The sheen of promise — always a dangerous thing — worn away by the realities of failure, by the sheer difficulty of a very difficult sport. Rutschman, once a player you could dream dynasties upon, looked tired, as he did for most of the season’s second half. Public bat speed data shows that Rutschman’s swing quickness dwindled over the season, implying that he was either exhausted or hurt. His offensive production dipped, as did his defensive metrics.
“I’ve answered this question a million times,” Hyde told the media after the game. “I think that it’s a young player that was dealing with some adversity. I think he’s going to come back next year, and I think he’s going to be a different player.”
Hyde’s optimism is well-founded. Rutschman, still just 26 years old, remains a volcano of talent. There remains ample runway for growth and glory. Such is also the case with most of Baltimore’s roster, even though Santander and ace Corbin Burnes are likely to depart in free agency. It’s reasonable for all involved, from the players to the leadership to the fan base, to believe that a brighter day is still out there somewhere.
But on this particular gray afternoon this particular October, neither the team nor its most important player was able to grab ahold of the moment.
A long winter awaits.
