Adley Rutschman has mostly struggled during the early days of his Boston Red Sox tenure. He's batting 1-for-17 (.059) with five walks in 22 plate appearances, which is concerning on its own, but is especially so given that many fans felt like Boston took an unnecessary risk by trading so many prospects for him when he only has one year remaining on his contract.
Red Sox fans aren't all that happy with Rutschman right now, and I totally get it. But at the same time, it's way too early to hit the panic button, and fans should be a little patient with their new catcher.
The three-time All-Star is fresh off a wrist injury, which kept him sidelined for three weeks, everybody on the team is slumping right now, and he has been a legitimately good hitter for pretty much his entire MLB career.
It might not seem like it right this moment (and I'm sure Boston's recent slump is causing fans to be a little more on edge than they should be), but Rutschman will be fine. And in the end, he's going to prove that he was a good addition to the team.
Adley Rutschman still brings a lot of value to the Red Sox
When Boston traded for Rutschman, one of its biggest weaknesses was its catcher position. Carlos Narvaez was batting .187 in 171 at-bats, Connor Wong is fine but not a World Series-caliber starting catcher, and Mickey Gasper was sent back to the minors after hitting .161 in 56 at-bats in June (and didn't get called back up until recently).
For a Red Sox team that's looking to make some serious noise in October, they were never going to feel comfortable rolling out any of those three catchers in the lineup. It was always going to be one of the biggest weaknesses on the team, and they needed to make some changes... which they did with the Rutschman trade.
On paper, there's a lot to like about Rutschman's fit in Boston. He automatically becomes their best catcher (and may even be the team's best catcher since Jason Varitek), and he excels with his bat and behind the plate. Acquiring him not only addresses one of the Red Sox' biggest needs, but it greatly bolsters their lineup and puts them in a better position to succeed come playoff time.
This entire season for the Red Sox has been about resilience (see: everybody counting them out when they were briefly last in the MLB standings, Caleb Durbin, Tyron Guerrero, Brayan Bello, and even Kristian Campbell, based on his minor-league play). With a little over a month to go in the regular season, that's not going to change, and fans should expect to see the real Rutschman stand up real soon.
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