Can one player change a baseball team?

The answer to most of the questions above is not, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s right for certain teams. This is the American Major League Baseball (MLB) Baltimore Orioles. And the player who changed Baltimore was catcher Adley Luchman (25).

Rutchman debuted a year ago on May 21, 2022, his local time. Rutchman recorded his first hit, a triple, in his debut game. Matt Wieters and Manny Machado were the only Baltimore rookie hitters whose first hit was a triple.

In particular, Wieters became a hot topic because he was Baltimore’s legendary catcher who won two Gold Gloves and four All-Stars. Expectations that Rutchman could succeed Wieters came from the opening game.

Baltimore, which had an odds ratio of 0.400 with 16 wins and 24 losses before the debut of Luchman, jumped to 67-55 and an odds rate of 0.549 after joining Luchman. And with 31 wins and 16 losses this season (0.660 win rate), it is running second overall in the winning rate across the American League (AL) and National League (NL). So, the team that has been in the lower ranks for several years, such as 110 losses in 2021, is showing a completely different appearance with 98 wins and 71 losses (0.580 win rate) after the debut of Ratchman.

Drafted by Baltimore with the 1st overall pick in the 1st round of the 2019 draft, Rutchman drew attention as the future of the Orioles right after joining. Compared to his peers, he has overwhelming leadership and defense, as well as a career batting average of 0.281 in the minor leagues and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.877.

And since his big league debut, his steady performance has led Baltimore’s high-flying streak. Rutchman has 147 hits (42 doubles), 20 home runs, and 67 RBIs in 160 games and 680 plate appearances for a year, recording a batting average of 0.259 and an OPS of 0.816.

He has a batting average of 0.271 and an OPS of 0.835 this season as well, and his offensive power is improving as he goes on. To date, the WAR (Win Contribution to Substitute Player) that Rutchman has accumulated has reached 6.8 (based on fan graphs). That said, he gave the team nearly seven more wins.

However, the true value of the Luchman is not the offense, but the defense. From last year to this year, DRS (an indicator of how many goals are prevented) is 19, showing overwhelming defensive power. Considering that Baltimore had suffered from a catcher problem for several years before Larchman, it was a turning point.메이저사이트

Baltimore has been outright tanking for years, trading all of the team’s key players since 2018, including Machado, Jack Britton, Kevin Gaussman, Jonathan Scoop, Jorge Lopez, and Trey Mancini. At the same time as improving the team constitution, the club consistently announced that tanking could end at the time of the call-up of the first pick in 2019, Ratchman, and it is finally bearing fruit this year.

Baltimore recently faced strong teams with a 50% win rate in 5 consecutive series, and during this period, it is showing stable power enough to record 10 wins and 6 losses, including sweeping 3 games against the Toronto Blue Jays. Attention is focusing on how far Baltimore’s gust of wind, which has been reborn as a strong team centered on Lutchman, will continue.