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Rutschman

Rutschman will kick off his rehab assignment on Tuesday night with Triple-A Norfolk and it sounds like there’s optimism he’ll make it back to Baltimore later this week. The 27-year-old backstop has been out since late June recovering from a left oblique strain. His absence has created a Grand Canyon-sized hole in the Orioles’ catching mix over the last month.

Rutschman is scheduled to take live batting practice on Sunday before heading out to Triple-A Norfolk to get some minor league at-bats under his belt. The 27-year-old franchise cornerstone has been out since late June recovering from a left oblique strain. It’ll likely be a brief rehab assignment, but he’s going to need at least a couple games to get back up to speed.

Rutschman has been able to play catch and do some running, but hasn’t progressed further than that. The 27-year-old will assuredly be out through the All-Star break. There’s a chance — but no guarantee — he could be back behind the plate by the end of July.

He is still not yet swinging a bat, which will be the main step in his return from an oblique injury. At this point, the Orioles still feel confident that he will return soon after the All-Star break, but we’ll need to see him start swinging before we share their confidence.

Fantasy managers shouldn’t expect Rutschman back until after next month’s Midsummer Classic, which takes place on July 15 in Atlanta. The 27-year-old backstop hit the shelf earlier this weekend for the first time in his career with what Mansolino described as a “mild” left oblique strain. However, he’s still going to miss at least a couple weeks. The frustrating development here is that the Orioles seemingly aren’t considering promoting top prospect Samuel Basallo to fill the void and will instead roll with veteran Gary Sánchez and rookie Maverick Handley as his caddy.

Rutschman underwent an MRI on Saturday morning that revealed an oblique strain after being scratched from Friday’s lineup with left abdominal tightness. Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters that top prospect Samuel Basallo is not being considered as a call up while Rutschman is sidelined. It’ll be Gary Sánchez and Maverick Handley taking over the catching duties. No word on the severity of the strain, which will determine how much time he misses, but fantasy managers should anticipate a multi-week absence, even in a best-case scenario. It’s the first time Rutschman has required a trip to the injured list since arriving in the big leagues back in 2022.

Rutschman will sit out his second consecutive contest due to left abdominal tightness with Gary Sánchez handling the catching duties on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium against his former club. The 27-year-old backstop was scratched from Friday’s lineup out of an abundance of caution with Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino telling reporters that he’ll undergo an MRI this weekend to determine the severity of the issue. Mansolino added that top prospect Samuel Basallo, who has been tearing the cover off the ball for Triple-A Norfolk recently, has not been discussed as a potential replacement if Rutschman misses time. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale while preparing for the possibility that he’ll require a trip to the injured list.

Jackson Holliday, who was slated to get the night off against a left-hander, was inserted into the O’s lineup and into the leadoff spot to replace Rutschman. It doesn’t sound like it’s something they’re overly concerned about, but fantasy managers should be sure to monitor his status through the weekend.

There weren’t a lot of positive takeaways for the Orioles during this one-sided affair, but Rutschman managed to sneak a towering blast over the right-field wall in the fourth inning for his eighth big fly of the season. Unfortunately, it represented the lone tally on the night for Baltimore as Ryan Pepiot twirled an impressive eight-inning gem.

As a team the Orioles were only able to scratch out one run on eight hits in the contest against Jacob Lopez and company. Rutschman walked in the first inning, singled in the third and singled in the fifth before being retired for the first time on a ground ball back to the mound in the seventh. With his two-hit effort, the 27-year-old backstop is now hitting .227/.321/.374 with seven homers and 18 RBI on the season.