Baltimore Orioles: Adley Rutschman Hits Walk-Off Single In IronBirds Victory

While the Baltimore Orioles were getting destroyed at Camden Yards, their top prospect was playing hero 35 miles up the road.

Saturday night surely wasn’t one for the 2019 Baltimore Orioles to remember. They were blown out in embarrassing fashion by the Houston Astros who scored more than 20 runs in a 23-2 victory over the O’s.

While it wasn’t a fun night for the big league squad, it was a good night for their short-season A-ball affiliate in nearby Aberdeen, Maryland.

The first overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft who is now the Orioles top prospect and the MLB’s sixth-best prospect Adley Rutschman recorded his first professional walk-off hit Saturday night. The MLB’s top catching prospect lined a single to score outfield prospect Dalton Hoiles and give the Aberdeen IronBirds a 4-3 victory over the Staten Island Yankees.

Rutschman, who was in a bit of a slump when he first arrived in Aberdeen, has started to swing the bat much better lately. After going 2-3 Saturday night, Rutschman’s OBP is now over .300 (.304), and he now has six RBI’s in 59 at-bats.

In addition, Rutschman has played well defensively as he’s made just one error giving him a .984 fielding percentage and has caught 67% of runners attempting to steal on him.

Despite, speculation after the draft that the Orioles could rush the 21-year-old Rutschman through the minor league system Mike Elias told reporters he’s planning to take things slow with the top pick. Thus, he has only appeared in the Gulf Coast League and with the IronBirds in short-season ball so far. However, if Rutschman continues to heat up, there’s a chance he could get promoted to Low-A Delmarva and participate in the South Atlantic League postseason in September.

With Saturday being a day the baseball world made fun of the current Orioles at least the fan base had one enjoyable moment as Rutschman continues to be the most talked-about player in the entire Baltimore Orioles organization.