Rookies exemplify direction of offense
Rutschman, Vavra have showed patience at plate, working at-bats in their favor
After the first of Terrin Vavra’s three hits Friday night, the Orioles’ starting rotation stared out at him at first base, cupping their hands around their eyes as they begged for Vavra to do the club’s customary binoculars celebration.
On Saturday, when he singled in the first inning to score Adley Rutschman, he wasted little time in circling his eyes toward the dugout, yet another example of how quickly he’s learning at the major league level.
Vavra has made an immediate impression since joining the Orioles’ lineup a week ago, consistently working tough at-bats as he’s posted a .350 batting average and .480 on-base percentage through Sunday. After observing from Baltimore’s bench his first few days in the majors, the 25-year-old spent the weekend in the middle of manager Brandon Hyde’s lineup.
“It’s something if you had told me at the beginning of the year, it’s not necessarily that I wouldn’t have believed it, it’s just more so it would’ve kind of surprised me,” Vavra said. “But at the same time, it’s the reality of the situation.
“Doesn’t matter where I’m hitting. Every time I’m up there, I’m gonna try to put the ball in play and give our team a chance and hopefully get something started or capitalize on someone else before me. Just trying to take it all in, wherever I’m at, and just trying to make most of it.”
His mindset and approach echo those of Rutschman, Baltimore’s prized catcher who after a slow start to his major league career has in many ways already been the hitter his lofty top prospect status suggested he could be. The early returns from the two rookies showcase the type of offense the Orioles are trying to build as more products of their highly ranked farm system approach the majors.
Rutschman, 24, entered Sunday second in the majors in on-base percentage over the past month, trailing only San Diego’s Juan Soto, and leading catchers in most major categories in the past two months. Both players work the count, largely by forcing opposing pitchers into the strike zone.
“It’s very impressive, guys that make the pitcher work very hard,” veteran starter Jordan Lyles said. “As a pitcher, you’d rather face a guy that wants to get it over with the first pitch or two. We don’t like the scrappy guys that work counts, and next thing you know, you’re seven, eight pitches in, and you’ve got to throw something over the plate.
“As a starting pitcher, we don’t want the five, six pitches every time someone steps in the box. We want the big boys that get up there and hack right away.”
Rutschman entered Sunday having swung at 22% of pitches outside of the strike zone, ranking in the top 20% of major league hitters, according to Baseball Savant. Since his late May debut, Rutschman’s 4.24 pitches per plate appearance rank in the top 10 among players who have come up as much as he has.
At 3.72, Vavra has not been as prodigal in that regard thus far, but it’s partly because four of his seven hits have come on the first pitch of those at-bats. Among the exceptions was his first career pinch-hit opportunity. Falling behind 0-2 in a tie game, he laced a double the other way as the Orioles completed a sweep of the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. He came into Sunday having chased at only 16.3% of pitches.
“His composure in big spots has been incredibly exciting,” said co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, who also worked with Vavra last year in Double-A Bowie. “When you look at that Texas at-bat, two outs, two strikes, the ability to stay calm, get a good pitch to hit, take a good swing at it, it’s been incredible, and we saw that at the minor league level, the ability to control the strike zone, make hard contact. He’s showcasing that ability up here without a true learning curve, and it’s going to come at some point, but to establish that confidence early, take the at-bats he’s taken in the minor leagues and have success up here is really great.”
And there are more hitters like Vavra and Rutschman coming. Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore’s top hitting prospect, came into Sunday having walked 68 times against 83 strikeouts between Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. Since moving to Double-A, outfielder Colton Cowser, the Orioles’ firstround pick last year, has a 32-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Both players, who have on-base plus slugging percentages above .900 at their current levels, are among numerous of a similar template.
Building a full lineup of hitters who take close pitches and attack the ones they can drive is the ultimate goal of the club’s player development approach. In Rutschman and Vavra, two early examples have reached Baltimore.
“It’s all the way through,” Vavra said. “I’ve spent some time in spring training with some of those younger guys, and even earlier in the year in Norfolk, we have a really, really talented farm system. It’s tough for pitchers when they know that they’re going to have to go out and grind each and every at-bat, one through nine, and that’s something I think our organization takes pride in. And it’s really
fun to be a part of.”
What’s to come?
Before MLB’s lockout, the Orioles were slated to begin the season hosting the Toronto Blue Jays. Instead, this week’s threegame matchup will mark their first home series against their American League East foe this year, beginning a stretch of 10 straight divisional contests. The teams split a fourgame set in Toronto in their only series thus far. Baltimore opens the series four games behind the Blue Jays, who hold the first of three AL wild-card spots.
After a one-off game in Boston — part of a makeup for another series the lockout pushed back — the Orioles face a Tampa Bay Rays team they trail by two games.
What was good?
On Monday, the Orioles traded away the longtime face of their major league team. Those left in the clubhouse followed with five straight wins.
An Orioles team fighting for a playoff spot lost a centerpiece in Trey Mancini and a day later saw All-Star closer Jorge López dealt, too. Without them, they took series from struggling Rangers and Pirates teams in a nearly perfect week. There were perceptions the moves were a signal of a forthcoming collapse, but the remaining Orioles quickly showed the exact opposite.
“I was nervous in Texas, how we would respond, because you just never know, honestly,” Hyde said. “You think you know your club, but when adversity and things happen and you lose a guy to an injury, you lose a guy to the trade, you just don’t know how we’re going to respond, so I was so relieved and satisfied ... That was great to see, honestly, and it just reinforces to me that these guys are playing to win every night. They expect to win, and they’re playing with confidence.”
That such a stretch also featured executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias declaring “it’s liftoff from here” for the Orioles’ rebuild should be most welcome to a fan base that has dealt with a lot of inactivity and bad baseball in the previous four seasons.
What wasn’t?
Mancini’s trade opened up more at-bats for Vavra, with Hyde continuing to supply them by having Rougned Odor play third base in Sunday’s series finale. Hyde said moving Odor to third allowed him to get as many lefties in the lineup as possible.
“It’s not his most natural position, but want to see his bat in there,” Hyde said pregame.
In the game, Odor went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, completing a week in which he had one hit in 17 at-bats. Likewise, trade deadline acquisition Brett Phillips, also a lefthanded hitter, went 2-for-11 with six strikeouts in his first week with Baltimore.
Jamming a lineup with lefties does little if they do not hit. The Orioles, meanwhile, have a pair of them doing so at Triple-A Norfolk in Henderson and outfielder Kyle Stowers, who could occupy the roles held by Odor and Phillips, respectively. Stowers has already come up to majors briefly as a substitute player in Toronto and entered Sunday with a .903 OPS for Norfolk, and Henderson, as a 21-year-old, leads the International League in all-encompassing offensive stat weighted runs created plus. Neither are on the 40-man roster, but creating spots for them ultimately would not be difficult.
On the farm
Mancini homered three times in his first two starts with the Houston Astros, and López locked down a save in his first appearance with the Minnesota Twins. Most of the prospects acquired for them also made strong first impressions in their new organizations.
Left-hander Cade Povich was considered the focal point of the four-pitcher return for López, with Elias saying the Orioles were “very, very high” on him and see him as a potential rotation-fronting starter. He allowed one hit with no walks while striking out eight for High-A Aberdeen on Saturday. Right-hander Chayce McDermott, half of the Mancini package, struck out in three in his lone inning of a rain-shortened start with Aberdeen.