'We're really proud of him': Adley hitting stride from right side

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Switch-hitters aren’t always going to feel completely dialed in from both sides of the plate at the same time. At least that’s not typically the case for Adley Rutschman.

“I feel like switch-hitting kind of comes in waves a little bit,” Rutschman said. “It’s just one of those things that usually one side feels good and the other one doesn’t feel as good. It goes back and forth.”

It’s easy to tell which side has felt good for the Orioles’ catcher this year -- make that very good.

Here are Rutschman’s splits through Baltimore’s first 62 games, 59 of which have featured an appearance by the 26-year-old backstop:

Batting left-handed vs. right-handed pitchers: .235/.283/.361 with six homers and 18 RBIs

Batting right-handed vs. left-handed pitchers: .438/.458/.725 with six homers and 25 RBIs

The power has been there from both sides -- as Rutschman showed by homering from both sides of the plate in the same game for the first time in his MLB career in Thursday’s 6-5 loss at Toronto -- but he’s going deep at a better rate from the right side. He has 180 plate appearances as a lefty hitter and only 83 as a righty.

Rutschman is naturally a right-handed hitter. So it was a bit odd to see him struggle from that side as a rookie in 2022 (.174/.287/.265 with one home run in 115 plate appearances) when he was considerably better as a lefty hitter (.280/.386/.503 with 12 homers in 355 plate appearances).

Statcast metrics help show why Rutschman has fared much better from the right side in 2023 (.304/.414/.481 with six homers in 191 plate appearances) and again this year.

Rutschman as a right-handed hitter

• 2022: 38.4% hard-hit percentage, 6.8% barrels among batted-ball events, 24.7% sweet-spot rate

• 2023: 38.1% hard-hit percentage, 11.5% barrels among batted-ball events, 45.3% sweet-spot rate

• 2024: 44.1% hard-hit percentage, 11.8% barrels among batted-ball events, 48.5% sweet-spot rate

“You could see that contact throughout his whole career. It’s just being able to put the barrel on the ball,” Orioles co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller said. “But we’re seeing higher exit velos this year, and I think it’s just a guy coming into his third year in the league, understanding the strike zone a little bit better and knowing when to take his shots.

“If they’re going to give him a get-ahead fastball this year, he’s going to be ready for it, and in those advantage counts, just getting his really good ‘A’ swings off.”

Most notable is the uptick in Rutschman’s right-handed sweet-spot rate, which is the percentage of batted balls that come off the bat at the ideal launch-angle range of 8-32 degrees. He’s been elite in that regard as a right-handed hitter the past two seasons, considering the overall MLB leader in the metric last year was at 46.6% (the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman).

Rutschman is putting more balls into play from that side that are probable to result in hits, thus recording more hits as well.

The improved overall offensive production -- a .301/.338/.480 slash line with 20 extra-base hits -- has come while Rutschman continues to handle a heavy workload for a catcher. He’s made 37 starts behind the plate, and another 21 at designated hitter.

“He’s done a great job of working with the training staff, working with the strength and conditioning guys and getting his upper body on the right side really, really strong, because obviously it’s very taxing with him throwing, doing all his catching work,” Fuller said. “So just making sure his body’s in a great spot. But that’s his natural side that we’re seeing come alive this year.”

And if Rutschman can keep his right-handed-hitting numbers up (although a bit of regression is to be expected) while raising his numbers from the left side ...

“If we could get those two to match a little bit closer, he’s going to be even better,” Fuller said. “But he’s having a great year, and we’re really proud of him.”