Rising O's see Rutschman (ROY), Hyde (MOY) named award finalists

The Orioles’ breakthrough 2022 season has resulted in national recognition for a pair of key figures in the franchise’s turnaround.

On Monday, manager Brandon Hyde and catcher Adley Rutschman were named finalists for Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards. Hyde is among the three finalists for American League Manager of the Year, along with Cleveland’s Terry Francona and Seattle’s Scott Servais. Rutschman is up for AL Rookie of the Year with Cleveland’s Steven Kwan and Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez.

• 2022 MLB Awards: Complete coverage

The winners for all BBWAA awards will be announced next week from Monday-Thursday (Nov. 14-17), each day at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network. The Rookie of the Year winners will be revealed Monday, followed by the Manager of the Year recipients on Tuesday.

Hyde was hired to be the Orioles’ manager in December 2018, a month after Mike Elias had become general manager. The duo had a lot of work to do, considering Baltimore was coming off a 115-loss season and needed its farm system rebuilt.

That’s why Hyde went 131-253 over his first three seasons as skipper from 2019-21. But as a host of talented top prospects arrived in ‘22, he guided the O’s to on-field success.

• All-time Manager of the Year Award winners

The Orioles went 83-79 this past season -- a 31-win improvement from the previous year -- for their first winning campaign since the 2016 club was 89-73 and reached the postseason. Baltimore fell a bit short in the AL Wild Card race this year, finishing three games back of Tampa Bay for the No. 6 seed. But it was a huge step forward for the O’s from recent seasons.

Hyde was named this year’s Sporting News AL Manager of the Year. He might soon add the BBWAA award to his trophy case, too.

“I’m happy for him,” O’s first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said. “He’s been a great guy to us and always helped out the young guys, brought us there with open arms. He’s been great. I’m sure this experience has helped him out a lot, too, just from winning. It was a great year.”

Late in the season, Hyde credited Rutschman’s arrival for helping Baltimore turn a corner and really start to play better. The Orioles were 16-24 entering May 21, when Rutschman -- the No. 1 prospect in baseball at the time, per MLB Pipeline -- was called up from Triple-A Norfolk to make his big league debut.

There was a lot of hype in recent years surrounding Rutschman, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Oregon State University, and he quickly lived up to those lofty expectations. In 113 games with the O’s, Rutschman posted a slash line of .254/.362/.445 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs. He also provided steady defense behind the plate and worked well with Baltimore’s pitchers.

• All-time Rookie of the Year Award winners

Rutschman’s 35 doubles broke the Orioles’ rookie record of 32, set by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. in 1982. And Rutschman’s 5.3 fWAR was tied with Rodríguez for best among AL rookies this past season.

“Just the way that [Rutschman] is behind the plate, leadership skills, he is way beyond his years,” Hyde told reporters in October. “The at-bats he takes are like a veteran. He is only going to improve offensively. He is only going to improve defensively, too.”