MLB ranks O’s Adley Rutschman top prospect in baseball originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The MLB season is ongoing, but the prospect scene of baseball is turning the page to 2022.
As the draft has come and gone, adding a crop of new prospects into the fold, and other young players have graduated full-time to their major league teams, it’s time for new rankings.
MLB Pipeline released its latest top 100 prospects ranking Friday, and the new number one is Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman.
The 23-year-old is the crown jewel in an O’s farm system that ranked fifth in baseball at the start of the 2021 season and has five players in this new top 100 rankings, including Grayson Rodriguez (17), Heston Kjerstad (50), D.L. Hall (51) and Gunnar Henderson (88).
Rutschman has spent the entire 2021 season with O’s Double-A affiliate Bowie Baysox, where he’s batting .277 with 18 home runs and 55 RBI in 77 games.
Regarding the young catcher’s defensive responsibilities, MLB Pipeline says Rutschman knows how to call and works well with a pitching staff. Furthermore, their report says that the O’s prospect has a strong arm that allows him to control the running game.
The former first overall selection in 2019 has an ETA of 2021, but it seems as though the Orioles will take it slow with their top prospect and let him season a bit more in the minors before they give him a call up, whether it’s next month or in 2022.