O's Rutschman on IL for 1st time in career with oblique strain
The Baltimore Orioles placed two-time All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain, they announced Saturday.
Catcher Maverick Handley was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move.
Rutschman was scheduled to DH for Baltimore on Friday against the New York Yankees before being scratched with what the team called left abdominal tightness. He underwent an MRI on Saturday that confirmed the injury, interim manager Tony Mansolino told Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com.
This is the first IL stint of Rutschman's big-league career. The former first overall pick has been a remarkably durable backstop, catching 100-plus contests in each of the last two seasons and playing in at least 145 games a year during that same span, serving as both a catcher and DH.
It also continues what's been a disappointing season for the 27-year-old, who's hitting a career-worst .227/.319/.372 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs over 68 games this season.
It's not yet clear how long Baltimore will be without Rutschman. Until he returns, Gary Sánchez is likely to be the team's primary catcher. Sánchez will start his second straight outing behind the plate on Saturday against the Yankees, while Jordan Westburg will DH.
Orioles fans should not expect to see top prospect Samuel Basallo while Rutschman's sidelined, though. Basallo is hitting .266/.374/.589 with 15 homers and 31 RBIs in his first full season at Triple-A, but Mansolino noted that there has been no discussion of promoting the 20-year-old catcher as an injury replacement to avoid stunting his overall development.
"I don't think you take a guy like Sammy Basallo and bring him to the big leagues just because there's a need. I think you bring a Sammy Basallo to the big leagues when he's destroyed Triple-A in all facets of the game - his at-bats, his defense, everything," Mansolino said, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. "So when he destroys Triple-A and he knocks the door down, to me, then he becomes part of the conversation."