Will the Red Sox New Catcher Turn His 2026 Season Around?
After a mid-August sweep of the Giants, the Red Sox find themselves in great shape for the year. Though once 14 games below .500, they have now recorded 70 wins, with more than a month of games left. One of the few disappointments on this now-great squad has been the performance of new acquisition Adley Rutschman. The former Orioles catcher, traded for at the deadline, has struggled in his first few weeks in Boston. Is a slump like this to be expected with a new team, or is it a sign of a larger problem?
In 11 games post-move, the former first-overall draft pick has managed just six hits, which translates to a .167 average. Aside from one Fenway Park dinger, he has not hit for any power. This is especially frustrating compared to Connor Wong's numbers, the team’s other catcher. Wong, ostensibly the backup, is crushing the ball of late. It might seem unfair or premature to jump to conclusions from such a small sample size. Things will average out, right? Well, another reason for raising eyebrows comes from before the trade even happened. The former Silver Slugger had a somewhat sluggish first half of 2026 in Baltimore. He was, to be fair, hitting a respectable .251, but was still not generating much power and was striking out a decent amount.
At the end of the day, thankfully, the Sox do not live and die by the performance of a lone player this season. Virtually every guy has picked up the slack at one point or another on this summer run. Moreover, Roman Anthony's return is imminent and comforting. Rutschman's performance is notable for bigger reasons. For starters, many are looking beyond September and questioning if the New England squad is built for playoff baseball. In a hypothetical October series where the franchise will ask a lot of everyone, lackluster performance is more concerning. Looking even further down the road, it seems the club’s expectation is that of a long-term catcher, which also makes the measly start harder to reckon with. It’s exciting, in a way, to now be in a position to scrutinize players this much. In May, fans were happy if a batter even attempted to hit the ball. So, some patience is necessary when dealing with Adley, but he still needs to demonstrate his worth more completely.
