Keep an eye on the catcher’s place this weekend in The Bronx.
You’re sure to hear groans if Adley Rutschman performs nicely.
After all, the Red Sox beat out the catching-in-need Yankees for the three-time All-Star and former Orioles backstop before the Aug. 3 commerce deadline.
“It’s an important addition. He’s a leader behind the plate, he’s a three-time All-Star,” interim supervisor Chad Tracy said before the rivals kicked off a four-game sequence at the Stadium Friday evening. “Prior to this factor [with his elbow], he had began to get going with the bat a little bit here. He’s also a very good at-bat. He doesn’t swing at balls.
“He fits the mold of what we’ve done here, which is we grind at-bats, we swing at strikes, we put the ball in play. When he’s right, that’s what he does and on top of that, he’s a really, really good catcher who communicates well with pitchers.”
Rutschman, 28, has yet to hit for the Red Sox, sporting a .146/.255/.244 slash line with a .499 OPS. But he is a high quality participant and will probably produce quickly. Prior to the commerce, he had a .764 OPS with eight dwelling runs and 47 RBIs in 67 video games.
“It’s been really fun. This team is tight-knit, they do a great job of someone new stepping up each night,” said Rutschman, who was back in the Red Sox lineup Friday evening after lacking the earlier two video games due to elbow soreness.
Adley Rutschman was acquired by the Boston Red Sox at the MLB commerce deadline on Aug. 3. Getty Images
There was a probability he could’ve wound up a Yankee. Rutschman had never skilled the commerce deadline before and tried to just focus on other issues.
“You never know what happens in baseball,” he said. “It’s one of the things that’s very uncertain. It’s part of it.”
The Yankees have gotten very little from their catchers. Austin Wells has a .571 OPS on the season and, after a respectable stretch, is in the midst of a 5-for-28 stretch with 12 strikeouts. He has only one extra-base hit in his last 12 video games.
Austin Wells has been struggling mightily for the Yankees at catcher. Getty Images
The Yankees tried to land Rutschman, but the Red Sox blew them away with an provide that featured minor league pitcher Anthony Eyanson, their No. 2 prospect, and two other prime 5 prospects. This weekend, dropping out on Rutschman could hang-out them.
He wasn’t positive what to expect from his introduction to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, but he was selecting a good time to expertise it with both groups combating for playoff positioning.
“Take it as it comes,” Rutschman said. “New experience.”
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