Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman placed on 10-day injured list with left ankle inflammation

Shortly after catcher Adley Rutschman was scratched from the lineup Saturday, the Orioles placed him on the 10-day injured list due to left ankle inflammation.

It’s the first injured list stint of the year for Rutschman, who dealt with several injury setbacks in 2025. When Rutschman was scratched, the Orioles changed the lineup to have Samuel Basallo catch against the San Francisco Giants in a game Baltimore went on to win 6-2.

The Orioles will hope this ankle soreness is nothing serious, because Rutschman has been swinging the bat well, but he will miss 10 days at least. His defense, which includes a new prepitch setup, has already led to metric improvements for framing and blocking compared to last year.

“Anyone who has messed around playing basketball or whatever and sprained your ankle, one, it sucks, and, two, it can linger for a little bit,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “So to kind of give us a chance to nip this in the bud early and get the 10 days off, really get the treatment going, and try to keep the body moving. But, yeah, it just sucks for Adley.”

Rutschman is hitting .294 with an .855 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. In Friday night’s loss to the Giants, he continued his hot start with a three-hit game that included two doubles.

Ryan Mountcastle, who was inserted into Saturday night’s lineup late as the new designated hitter, promptly left with his own apparent injury. Against right-hander Logan Webb in the second inning, Mountcastle doubled. But he stumbled into second base in apparent stress, then left with a trainer by his side due to left foot pain.

Mountcastle and Rutschman are scheduled to receive MRIs on Sunday.

Rutschman felt his ankle tweak when running the bases Friday in the first inning. He played through it, and while he felt OK on Saturday morning, the ankle later “swelled up on him pretty good,” Albernaz said.

And, for Mountcastle, Albernaz initially thought it was a cramp or ankle injury. It turned out to be neither; his foot was the issue.

“Any time anybody goes down, it’s tough,” said infielder Jeremiah Jackson, who hit a homer as part of a two-RBI game. “The way we reacted and went out there and played our brand of baseball, it’s just what we’ve got to do. Obviously, it sucks. But it’s kind of part of the game, and we’ve got to pick each other up.”

Rutschman’s 2025 campaign was derailed through injuries. He dealt with two oblique strains, one on each side of his body, and that impacted his performance on both sides of the ball. Rutschman finished last year with a career-low .220 average and .673 OPS.

Rutschman was originally scheduled to catch Saturday, and Basallo was the designated hitter. With Basallo in the lineup, the Orioles didn’t have a backup catcher on the bench, which would have been an issue if something had impacted him.

To rectify that, the Orioles selected the contract of catcher Maverick Handley, and to make room for him on the 40-man roster, Baltimore designated right-hander Chayce McDermott for assignment. Handley made his major league debut last year, playing 16 games.

Handley played because of the rash of injuries to Orioles catchers. Baltimore used seven catchers last year, and Handley dealt with his own injuries when he hurt his wrist and suffered a concussion.

During the third inning of the Triple-A Norfolk game, catcher Sam Huff was pinch hit for, which could indicate an additional move soon. Handley was closer, playing for Double-A Chesapeake.

McDermott may be an interesting target on the waiver wire. The 27-year-old moved to a bullpen role full time and largely impressed during spring training with his velocity and refined mechanics.

The Orioles have been cognizant of monitoring Rutschman’s workload in the hopes of keeping him healthy all season. Albernaz said last week that he and Rutschman discussed the catcher’s workload, and Albernaz brought up catcher Buster Posey, with whom he overlapped with the Giants in 2021. In hindsight, Albernaz said, Posey wished he had taken more days off to maintain his durability.

“He’d play five in a row and then he played first, and then five in a row, and then his body just crashed on him,” Albernaz said. “That’s something, just being very cognizant of with Adley. He’s feeling great, in a great spot. We’re going to find spots to push him, but early in the year, to me, it’s not the right time with the position he plays.”

Right-hander Chris Bassitt said he expects Rutschman to be fine.

“You got to get through April healthy, and there’s a right way and wrong way to get through there, so there’s no reason to push things right now,” Bassitt said, preaching caution with injuries early in the year. “So Adley will be fine.”

This article has been updated.