Baltimore efforted to have Rutschman's bat in their lineup as much as possible as Rutschman played in 90 of the 96 games before the break while hitting .275/.339/.441 and providing stalwart defense behind the plate when he was not DH'ing. Perhaps the volume of play caught up with him, as Rutschman limped to the finish line with a .207/.282/.303 second half and was non-existent in Baltimore's quick exit from the playoffs. It is troubling to see the young hitter's slugging percentage in decline each season he has been in the big leagues as well as a disturbing trend in his production against righties. His wRC+ against righties has declined roughly 40 points versus the prior season each of the last two seasons, and while we are not forecasting him slipping any further against righties, a 45.8 percent flyball rate against righties did him no favors in a dead-ball year and helps explain the 48-point drop in his batting average. Read Past Outlooks