BOSTON – It took a few days, but Adley Rutschman is sliding into the role of the impact Trade Deadline acquisition that Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow expected to land when he dealt three of the club’s top five prospects, per MLB Pipeline.
After starting his time with Boston with a 1-for-20 clip, the three-time All-Star has heated up.
Playing in his second home game with his new team, Rutschman punctuated his arrival to Fenway Park in Tuesday night's 9-4 win over the D-backs with a towering equalizing solo shot in the bottom of the fourth inning. The long ball off Arizona righty Merrill Kelly soared over the foul pole in right field before tucking into the seats at a Statcast-projected 410 feet.
Hit with a launch angle of 31 degrees and an exit velocity of 107 mph, Rutschman’s first homer for the Red Sox and ninth of the season would have left all 30 MLB parks.
In the bottom of the sixth inning in Monday’s 11-1 romp of Arizona, Rutschman ended an 0-for-19 drought by tucking an RBI double down the line in left. He yanked a two-run single into right field for the Red Sox's first runs of Tuesday's game.
Even before he started hitting, Rutschman was drawing rave reviews from the Red Sox pitchers he had caught.
Rutschman was on the injured list with left wrist inflammation when the trade was made on Aug. 3.
After playing two Minor League rehab games for Triple-A Worcester, Rutschman was activated on Aug. 11 in Toronto.