Adley Rutschman Pushing Julio Rodriguez for AL Rookie of the Year

Although he did not get called up to the Baltimore Orioles until six weeks into the season, catcher Adley Rutschman has performed well enough as the Orioles have surged in the standings, that he is challenging Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez in the race for American League Rookie of the Year.

Rodriguez, 21, appears to be a superstar in the making. He has 19 home runs, 21 stolen bases, and a slash line of .270/.331/.476, earning him 3.1 FanGraphs WAR in 101 games.

A wrist injury had Rodriguez on the injured list recently and he returned to action last Friday, hitting his first home run since coming back in Tuesday’s win against the Los Angeles Angels.

The 24-year-old Rutschman was the first pick in the 2019 MLB Draft and has been hyped as one of the top prospects in baseball ever since.

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AL Rookie of the Year Odds

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Rutschman appeared in 20 games across three levels of the minors this season and had three home runs along with a slash line of .304/.417/.507, so there was little doubt that he was ready for his MLB debut.

Since getting called up, Rutschman has played in 69 games for the Orioles, hitting seven home runs with a slash line of .250/.358/.442 to go with outstanding defensive performance that has resulted in a fWAR of 3.0.

While their FanGraphs WAR numbers are close, Rodriguez does have 4.1 WAR on Baseball Reference, while Rutschman sits at 3.0. Nevertheless, with 46 games remaining for the Orioles and 44 games left for the Mariners, there is still an opportunity for Rutschman to close the gap.

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