Right knee down, stats up? Rutschman's new stance a defensive spark

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- The one-knee-down catching stance has taken over MLB in recent years. Gone are the days when catchers are on both feet while crouched behind the plate for nine innings.

For Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, there was a gradual shift from having both of his knees up to having his left knee down from 2022-25. But this year, the 28-year-old’s stance has undergone a major change.

See if you can tell from the Statcast data (with the 2026 numbers entering Monday):

2022: 91% both knees up, 6% left knee down, 3% right knee down
2023: 62% both knees up, 36% left knee down, 1% right knee down, 1% both knees down
2024: 35% both knees up, 62% left knee down, 3% both knees down
2025: 5% both knees up, 94% left knee down, 1% both knees down
2026: 11% both knees up, 5% left knee down, 82% right knee down, 2% both knees down

As a catcher at Sherwood (Ore.) High School, at Oregon State University, in Baltimore’s Minor League ranks and during his first four seasons with the O’s, Rutschman rarely set up with his right knee down. Now, all of a sudden, it has become his predominant stance.

Why?

“Having the right knee down, your body is kind of tilted off just a little bit,” Rutschman said. “I think it makes it a little bit easier to get your feet down when you’re throwing, and it gives you a little bit more leverage catching pitches, being able to move kind of forward into it.”

It’s not a coincidence that this change occurred after the Orioles overhauled their coaching staff (one featuring multiple former catchers). And it’s also hard to argue against the early results.

The process began in Spring Training, which was Baltimore’s first camp under new manager Craig Albernaz (a Minor League catcher from 2006-14). But much of the catching work was handled by Joe Singley, the club’s new field coordinator/catching coach who came with a reputation of being among the best catching minds in the game.

Singley (who is 28, like Rutschman) had a lot of responsibilities in spring, including creating the camp schedule. But his job also included helping overhaul Rutschman’s catching technique in an attempt to get him back to being among MLB’s top defensive backstops, as he was as a rookie in 2022.

“I think it’s just putting him into positions that allow Adley to be who we believe Adley is, right?” Singley said. “Firm believer in his ability behind the plate, and getting him into positions that kind of free him up a little bit allows his athleticism to take over.”

Thus, the decision was made to have Rutschman try catching with his right knee down -- a move that Albernaz would endorse.

“I’m biased, but it’s a lot easier to throw with the right knee down,” Albernaz said. “There’s a lot of advantages to that.”

“I think sequencing-wise for most people, generally speaking, right knee comes a little more natural, just allows him to flow out of it a little bit better. And Adley is taking a liking to it,” Singley added. “I think this has allowed him to unlock a little bit more of the talent that we know he has.”

Entering Monday, Rutschman had thrown out nine baserunners this season, tied for third most in the Majors. His 31% caught-stealing rate was his best since his 2022 rookie season (30.6%) and significantly higher from the past three seasons -- 21.9% in ’23, 18.8% in ’24 and 24% in ’25.

There was an adjustment period for Rutschman, who said it has taken “time and reps” to get used to having his right knee down. But it’s clearly helping him get rid of the ball quickly and make strong throws to second base to nab potential basestealers.

“Clean exchange, clean footwork. It’s pretty simple. And then, when it comes to throwing, accuracy. If you throw a ball three feet too high, it adds a certain amount of time to the tag time,” Rutschman said. “So it’s just good exchange, good footwork and as good of a throw as you can.”

Rutschman has also gotten back to being among MLB’s top framing catchers. He ranked in the 97th percentile entering Monday (per Baseball Savant). He was in the 93rd percentile in 2022, but didn’t finish higher than the 76th percentile from 2023-25.

It says quite a bit about Rutschman that even though he was already an established big leaguer, he was open to making such a significant change to try to improve his game (which he’s done).

“He knows the belief that I have [in] him and the desire that I have for him to succeed. When you marry those two together and you lay out the structure of work, I think it’s a good combo,” Singley said. “But the human being doesn’t come any better. His willingness to work every day and excitement and pure joy and pride that he takes in the game, I think you combine all that together and it works out pretty nice.”