Baltimore's season keeps finding new ways to test its patience. The Orioles placed All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman on the 10-day injured list Monday with left wrist inflammation, retroactive to July 19, after he showed visible discomfort during a game in Houston on July 18 and then sat out the next day. It's the third separate IL stint of the year for the 28-year-old backstop, who already missed time in April with a left ankle issue and again in mid-June with a concussion.
Orioles Place Adley Rutschman On IL, Designate Rudy Martin Jr. t.co/INZsqMVhet
To fill the roster spot, Baltimore called up catcher Chadwick Tromp from Triple-A Norfolk. But that move needed a corresponding 40-man cut, and it landed on Rudy Martin Jr., the outfielder Baltimore had just acquired via trade on July 17 and optioned to Norfolk. Three days after landing in the organization, Martin was designated for assignment to clear space for Tromp — as brief a stint as a player can have with a new team.
For Rutschman, this is starting to look like a lost year on the health front. He's been one of the game's best two-way catchers since debuting in 2022, an anchor of Baltimore's young core alongside Gunnar Henderson and the rest of the lineup that powered the Orioles' rise back to relevance. But three different injuries in one season — ankle, concussion, now the wrist — is a rough pattern for a player who logs one of the sport's most physically demanding jobs behind the plate.
The timing stings, too. Baltimore is trying to hang in a crowded AL wild card race, and losing its everyday catcher for even a 10-day stretch changes the lineup's whole complexion — less power, less on-base presence, and another adjustment period for the pitching staff working with a new receiver in Tromp. Rutschman's fantasy managers are feeling it as well, watching a top-tier catcher option go dark for at least a week and a half during a stretch run.
It's a 10-day minimum, so Rutschman could realistically be activated in early August if the wrist calms down quickly. Until then, keep an eye on Baltimore's daily transactions — Tromp's audition behind the plate, whether Martin gets claimed elsewhere on waivers, and whether this is truly the last IL trip of the year for Rutschman or just the latest one.