The Orioles pitch a catcher Adley Rutschman He will be on the 7-day disabled list due to a concussion, according to a team announcement. The one who plays outside Michael Siani recalled from Triple-A for now. Siani is already on the club’s 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is required.
Rutschman was injured in the ninth inning of Thursday’s game against the Mariners. He cut the ball until it reached the stop Colt Emersonwho tagged out the runner to second before throwing to first in an attempted double play. Emerson’s throw hit Rutschman in the head, and he was immediately ejected from the game. Rutschman did not play in yesterday’s game against the Dodgers, the Orioles selected Samuel Basallo behind the plate.
“With Rutsch, it was a strange incident that happened,” the manager Craig Albernaz told Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun and others about Rutschman’s injury. “We’re going to support… Adley and make sure she’s okay and take it day by day and see how she feels.” Rutschman’s IL placement resumed until yesterday, so he is eligible to return on June 26 against the Nationals.
The Orioles will start Basallo behind the plate for now, with Sam Huff left on hand as his backup. Still, any absence from Rutschman will be felt by Baltimore’s offense. The 28-year-old bounces back nicely from last year’s 91 wRC+. In 228 plate appearances this year, Rutschman is hitting .254/.329/.458 with eight home runs and a 118 wRC+. The latter number is Rutschman’s best since 2023, and his .204 slugging percentage would be a career high in a full season. Adding to Rutschman’s strong defense, he has already earned 1.9 fWAR in 2026, surpassing last year’s 1.2 fWAR in nearly double the number of games.
Rutschman’s overall release makes him one of the Orioles’ most valuable players and a key reason they can reach a Wild Card berth. Baltimore has a 35-42 record entering tonight, which is exactly the same as their expected record based on runs scored and runs allowed. Despite the losing record, the team is just 3.5 games out of the Wild Card spot and has a 21.4% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. Rutschman’s resurgence has helped those chances, and now Basallo, with a wRC+ of 111 himself, will look to continue the Orioles’ success behind the plate.
Turning to Siani, the 26-year-old joins the big league roster as a backup outfielder, at least temporarily. A fourth-round pick by the Reds in 2018, Siani reached the Majors in 2022 and has made 383 plate appearances from 2022-25. Most of them came in 2024 with the Cardinals. Unfortunately, Siani hit just .228/.285/.285 with a 64 wRC+ that year. Stellar outfield defense, including 9 Defensive Runs Saved and 16 Outs Above Average, ensured that Siani was worth 1.1 fWAR that season despite the lack of hitting. He could serve as a defensive specialist for the Orioles, but the team would benefit from limiting Siani’s time at the plate.
Photo courtesy of Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
