Adley Rutschman's comeback is powered by this improvement

Yesterday's extra-innings win over the Rays featured many big moments. Obviously, Colton Cowser's home run stole the show, but Pete Alonso, Leody Taveras, and Jeremiah Jackson also provided clutch hits that saved the game just so that Cowser would have the opportunity to be the hero. One moment that could have gotten lost in the shuffle was Adley Rutschman throwing out Chandler Simpson to end the top of the ninth inning.

Throwing out runners had been difficult for Rutschman over the last few seasons. He's a good athlete and had respectable pop times, so he never got run roughshod on like some catchers who are known for not being able to throw out runners, but his throws to second base were frequently inaccurate, with the ball sailing into centerfield much more often than would be considered ideal.

It was getting worse too. In his rookie season, Rutschman was in the 84th percentile for caught stealing above average. His stats steadily declined over the next few years, and last year he was all the way down in the 35th percentile.

Now, in Rutschman's fifth season, he's bounced back. He's currently 91st percentile for caught stealings, and his play on Simpson was a perfect example of the kind of play he's making this year that he wasn't in years past. Only a perfect throw could have gotten Simpson and Rutschman; he basically hit Simpson in the hand with the ball from 127 feet away. Jackson just put his glove in front of the ball, and the throw tagged Simpson out.

Adley Rutschman is gunning runners down like never before

It's not just the caught-stealing part of catcher defense that Rutschman is suddenly remarkably improved in. He's also risen back to the top of the league in framing. He's not just "top" as in "among the best", by the numbers, he is the best pitch framer in baseball this year. Similar to the caught stealings, Rutshcman was an elite framer as a rookie, but over the years seemed to get worse and worse. Now he's back to his strike-stealing ways.

How does something like this happen? Players don't usually get a lot better at defense at this point in their careers. For Rutschman, it's likely the result of a combination of factors. For one, he's healthy for the first time in a couple of years. It's underrated how much playing through an injury just makes you worse. The other thing is Craig Albernaz came up as a catcher and later as a catching and bullpen coach, so he certainly knows how to play/coach the position.

Maybe the person who deserves the most credit is new Orioles catching coach Joe Singley, whom Albernaz brought in shortly after becoming the Orioles manager. Singley and Rutschman are the same age, which is an interesting dynamic for a coach and player to share, especially a player as young as Rutschman.

Singley's playing career was cut short by injuries, but he's been a fast riser in the coaching ranks. Albernaz had a lot of nice things to say about Singley when he spoke during spring training with MLB's Jake Rill. He called Singley "the best catching coach out there" and complimented his ability to communicate with the players and make them better.

Whether it's Rutschman's health or Albernaz and Singley's coaching, the result is the same. The Orioles have their franchise catcher back, and he looks like the elite defender he was drafted to be. With how valuable these tools Rutschman possesses, the Orioles should once again be eager to keep him on the team for as long as they can.

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