The Orioles are placing catcher Adley Rutschman is going on the 7-day concussion injured list, according to a team announcement. Outfielder Michael Siani is being recalled from Triple-A in the meantime. Siani is on the club’s 40-man roster already, so no corresponding move is needed.
Rutschman incurred the injury in the ninth inning of Thursday’s game against the Mariners. He grounded a ball to shortstop Colt Emerson, who tagged the runner heading to second before throwing to first in an attempt at a double play. Emerson’s throw struck Rutschman in the head, and he was promptly removed from the game. Rutschman did not play in yesterday’s game against the Dodgers, with the Orioles opting for Samuel Basallo behind the plate.
“With Rutsch, it was such a freak incident that happened,” manager Craig Albernaz told Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun and others about Rutschman’s injury. “We’re going to support… Adley and make sure he’s OK and take it day by day and see how he feels.” Rutschman’s IL placement was retroactive to yesterday, so he is eligible to return on June 26th against the Nationals.
The Orioles will start Basallo behind the plate in the meantime, with Sam Huff remaining on hand as his backup. Still, any absence from Rutschman will be felt by Baltimore’s offense. The 28-year-old is bouncing back nicely from last year’s underwhelming 91 wRC+. In 228 plate appearances this year, Rutschman is batting .254/.329/.458 with eight home runs and a 118 wRC+. The latter figure is Rutschman’s best output since 2023, while his .204 isolated slugging percentage would be a career high over a full season. Adding in Rutschman’s solid defense, he’s already been worth 1.9 fWAR in 2026, exceeding last year’s 1.2 fWAR which he achieved in nearly twice the number of games.
Rutschman’s overall output makes him one of the Orioles’ most valuable players and a key reason that they’re within reach of a Wild Card spot. Baltimore has a 35-42 record entering tonight, perfectly matching their expected record based on runs scored and runs allowed. Despite the losing record, the team is just 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and has a 21.4% probability of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. Rutschman’s resurgence has certainly helped those chances, and now Basallo, who has a 111 wRC+ himself, will look to continue the Orioles’ fortunes behind the plate.
Turning to Siani, the 26-year-old joins the big league roster as a backup outfielder, at least for the short term. A fourth-round pick by the Reds in 2018, Siani reached the Majors in 2022 and has made 383 plate appearances from 2022-25. The overwhelming majority of those came in 2024 with the Cardinals. Unfortunately, Siani hit just .228/.285/.285 with a 64 wRC+ that year. Stellar outfield defense, including 9 Defensive Runs Saved and 16 Outs Above Average, ensured that Siani was worth 1.1 fWAR that season despite the lack of hitting. He can act as a defensive specialist for the Orioles, but the team would benefit from limiting Siani’s time at the plate.
Photo courtesy of Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
