For his first return to Camden Yards as an opponent, Adley Rutschman was unlikely to make a premature turn into the home clubhouse.

Not with all his former teammates offering him directions.

Though the 28-year-old catcher was traded to the Boston Red Sox a month ago, the deep relationships he cultivated with the Orioles have not frayed. On Thursday morning, he got a wave of texts from old friends advising him not to get lost.

“Some of the guys were giving me a little bit of crap,” Rutschman said before Thursday’s game. “They were texting me, saying, ‘Make sure you don’t take a right turn to the dugout after you ground out.’”

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The bearings have shifted dramatically for Rutschman, the Orioles’ first overall pick in 2019 and formerly a franchise tentpole player. The day after the trade, he admitted he was “still kind of digesting” being dealt from the only MLB team he had ever known to an AL East rival.

Even though he said Thursday the move was a surprise, he repeated a point he made after the trade that he harbors no “ill feelings” to the Orioles or president of baseball operations Mike Elias.

“I always respect that he [Elias] is really good at what he does, and he has reasons for everything that he does, and I’ve always had a good relationship with him,” he said. “It’s just one of those things in baseball that you kind of understand as part of the business aspect of it, and he’s got to do what he thinks is best for the organization short term and long term.”

A month in, while he’s dealt with an injury that has limited his impact in Boston, he’s gotten into a rhythm in his new clubhouse. In a parallel universe, he might be scrapping with the Orioles trying to make the final wild-card spot. Instead, he and the Red Sox are attempting to knock them out of the running.

“I think you always want to be able to achieve the goals that you’ve set at the beginning of the year, and in years past you set goals to win the World Series [with the Orioles],” he said. “But you have a new opportunity and a new situation. Today’s a new day.”

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Rutschman was entered into Thursday’s lineup but has been bothered by a hyperextended elbow. Heading into this four-game series against the Orioles, he has appeared in 15 games while hitting .170 with just two extra-base hits.

Still, his former teammates and coaches miss him. Colton Cowser, who was among the group of Orioles at a movie theater with Rutschman when he learned he had been traded, said seeing him in the opposing dugout would be “really weird” but that he was excited to see him.

“Wishing him the best,” Cowser said. “But hopefully not the best this week.”

As one of just three No. 1 overall picks in franchise history, Rutschman was beloved as an Oriole and one of the top performers of the 2023 team that won 101 games and an AL East title. After he was traded, fans shared stories of naming pets and even their children after him.

Although Rutschman said he is staying off social media, he acknowledged that he had felt the support from Baltimore’s fanbase. He consulted other players, including former Oriole Ryan O’Hearn, for advice on how to handle the emotions of coming back to the ballpark he once called home. But it seemed, even before first pitch, Rutschman understood it would be a moment no one could fully prepare for.

“The people in Baltimore always treated me with an unbelievable amount of respect and love, and I’ve always felt that,” he said. “Just a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has supported me in my journey from 2019 to a month ago.”