Rutschman joins rare O’s company with latest All-Star nod

CINCINNATI -- For the third time in four years, Adley Rutschman is an All-Star.

The Orioles’ catcher is again heading to the Midsummer Classic, which will be held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14. Rutschman was announced as a member of the American League roster during the All-Star Game selection show on Saturday night.

It’s a well-deserved honor for Rutschman, who has excelled in all facets of the game during the first half of the 2026 season. The 28-year-old entered Saturday batting .252 with 16 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 43 RBIs and a .773 OPS in 58 games. His defense has been stellar, as he’s thrown out 15 of 40 runners trying to steal bases -- a whopping 37.5%, well above his career best of 30.6% set during his 2022 rookie season.

O’s manager Craig Albernaz announced the news during a team meeting prior to Saturday night’s game in Cincinnati. At the end, every player in Baltimore’s clubhouse got into a single-file line, so each one could give Rutschman a hug and congratulate him.

“I had no idea. Saw a team meeting on the sheet and didn’t know exactly what it was about, but when he started talking, kind of started sharing a little bit, ‘This is the third time,’ and whatnot, I was like, ‘Ah, maybe.’ It was pretty cool,” Rutschman said. “It was great. Just very fortunate to be surrounded by the guys on this team. A lot of guys who I’m close with, and so it means a lot to have them be supportive and be happy.”

Rutschman was an All-Star in the 2023 and ’24 seasons. The switch-hitting backstop also participated in the Home Run Derby in 2023, when he put on quite a show by hitting from both sides of the plate at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, which was filled with friends and family members of the Sherwood, Ore., native.

Only three other catchers in Orioles history (since 1954) have earned three or more All-Star nods while playing for the team -- Gus Triandos (’57, ’58 and ’59) and Matt Wieters (2011, ’12, ’14 and ‘16).

“I know he takes that to heart. It means a lot to him, and it means a lot for us,” Albernaz said. “Adley, yes, his performance on the field, he deserves it. But the impact he makes on people around him, to me, is the real calling card. When you’re a catcher, you’re a servant leader by nature. And Adley does a great job of navigating our pitchers, the position-player group. …

“It’s all those little things, to me, that make it really cool. Obviously, everyone sees the performance of it, and it’s well deserved on the performance side, but it’s even more deserving on the person he is.”

All-Star Game rosters are determined by fan and player voting, with MLB filling out the rosters after those conclude. Rutschman was selected by the league to play in this year’s event.

Prior to Rutschman, the most recent Baltimore player to be selected to the All-Star Game at least three times in a four-year span was infielder Manny Machado, who went in 2015, ’16 and ’18. (Machado was an All-Star four times from 2013-18.)

Here’s everything to know about the Orioles’ 2026 All-Star (the team could gain additional representatives as replacements are named for injured players/starting pitchers who will be ineligible to play):

Adley Rutschman, C
Previous All-Star appearances: Two (2023 and ’24)
Something to know: Rutschman is the 16th player to be selected with the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft and then go on to be a three-plus-time All-Star. He went first overall in 2019.

The other players in that group are: Harold Baines (1977, six), Darryl Strawberry (1980, eight), Ken Griffey Jr. (1987, 13), Chipper Jones (1990, eight), Alex Rodriguez (1993, 14), Josh Hamilton (1999, five), Adrián González (2000, five), Joe Mauer (2001, six), Justin Upton (2005, four), David Price (2007, five), Stephen Strasburg (2009, three), Bryce Harper (2010, nine), Gerrit Cole (2011, six), Carlos Correa (2012, three) and Paul Skenes (2023, three).