The Boston Red Sox made arguably the most surprising deal of the MLB trade deadline, acquiring Adley Rutschman from their AL East rivals, the Baltimore Orioles, in exchange for a massive prospect haul. It's easy to see why the Red Sox made this move. They had played their way into contention but needed an upgrade at the catcher position; Rutschman was the best one realistically available.
Well, things hadn't played out as expected for Rutschman in Boston to begin his Red Sox tenure, but he showed why they were so eager to acquire him in his return to Baltimore. Rutschman hit not one, but two home runs in Thursday's game, tripling his total with the Red Sox in one night. There're still some red flags that come with Rutschman, but he can also really help the Red Sox.
Adley Rutschman showed Boston fans how good he can be in his return to Baltimore
Rutschman drove in the first two runs for the Red Sox with home runs against Brandon Young, almost singlehandedly keeping them in the game. He hadn't hit much with Boston, but he had a solid .764 OPS with the O's before the trade, and this was a guy who hit so well that he received MVP votes in each of his first two MLB seasons.
Adley Rutschman launches his second homer of the game in his return to Baltimore! pic.twitter.com/JMVhcZvnu7
— MLB (@MLB) September 4, 2026
Rutschman is not Shea Langeliers or Hunter Goodman with the bat, but he makes more contact than both of those guys and can absolutely be a middle-of-the-order hitter when healthy. Red Sox fans are seeing why on Thursday.
Adley Rutschman has not been healthy with the Red Sox
Red Sox fans were frustrated with Rutschman's offense, or lack thereof, and it's hard to blame them for that. In his first 15 games with Boston, Rutschman is slashing .170/.254/.245 with one home run and four RBI. It had been a slog for Rutschman, who went 1-for-17 to start his Red Sox career, and entered Thursday's action with just three hits in his last 22 at-bats (with all three of those hits coming in one game). As bad as he's been, it's worth pointing out that he hasn't really been healthy for much of his tenure.
When the Red Sox acquired Rutschman, he was on the IL with wrist inflammation. He played just two games on a rehab assignment before being activated by the Red Sox. Rutschman then missed Boston's entire series against the Mariners due to a hyperextended elbow. He returned from that injury in this game.
It's hard enough for players to perform in a new pressure-packed environment when healthy, and it's even harder when they aren't healthy. Rutschman hasn't been 100 percent, and given his elbow injury, who knows if he'll even be 100 percent the rest of the way? Still, even while banged up, this is a player who can produce.
Adley Rutschman doesn't need to be a star hitter to be valuable for the Red Sox
The Red Sox parted with a ton, thinking they were getting the complete package in Rutschman. They thought they were getting one of the best all-around catchers in the sport. While that outcome would be ideal, what's great about Rutschman is that he doesn't need to hit to be productive.
Rutschman entered the day ranked 10th among 22 catchers with at least 300 plate appearances, with 2.3 fWAR this season, and that's despite him having the fifth-fewest plate appearances of the bunch. The reason for this is that Rutschman is one of the best defensive catchers in the sport.
Having elite defense behind the plate is incredibly valuable, especially for teams that pride themselves on run prevention, like the Red Sox. Yes, Rutschman is expected to hit, but being a league-average bat and an elite glove, as he has been this season, would be quite good for the Red Sox. He'd almost certainly rank within the top five in fWAR among catchers had he been healthy this season, showing how valuable his defense is.
The Red Sox were never going to win the "value" equation of the Rutschman deal
First and foremost, the Red Sox were never going to "win" this trade value-wise. They parted with three of their five best prospects, including a pair of top-100 prospects, Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, as well as another one of their top-30 prospects and a proven big-leaguer, Carlos Narvaez. They traded all of this for not even two full seasons of Rutschman.
That is a ton. The Red Sox clearly had to pay an additional AL East tax for acquiring a star player from their division rivals. This isn't inherently a bad thing. I'm always a fan of teams being aggressive to get their guy.
With that being said, the Red Sox clearly "lost" the trade when comparing the two sides. None of that matters if they win a World Series with Rutschman, but there was every reason to believe Baltimore got the better end of the deal, and that remains the case now.
Adley Rutschman deserves more time to prove he's who the Red Sox think he is
The red flags are clear. Rutschman has not been able to stay on the field much over the past couple of seasons, and his offense is in a rough spot. He has not been the star catcher he was expected to be much at all since 2023. This is still a really good player, though, and we saw that on Thursday.
Again, Rutschman is an elite defender, and while his bat has been lagging, it's been a tick above league-average this season (103 wRC+ entering the day) despite injuries and how he's performed in Boston. If he can ever stay healthy (and it's admittedly a pretty big if), he can get back to his superstar heights. He's only 28 years old, after all.
At the end of the day, Rutschman needs more time. He had played in 15 games with the Red Sox before Thursday, and there's reason to believe he wasn't fully healthy for a single one of those. Caleb Durbin struggled mightily for far longer than Rutschman has, yet he's completely turned his season around, becoming a catalyst in Boston's revival.
The Red Sox made this deal with 2026 and 2027 (and potentially beyond if an extension is reached) in mind. If by next season, Rutschman still isn't hitting much and can't stay on the field, it'll be time to panic. But this deal was made a month ago, and Rutschman has been on the field for roughly half that time. Red Sox fans need to give him more time before labeling this deal as a bust.
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