Baltimore selected the 21-year-old from Oregon State with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday. Rutschman is just the fifth catcher ever to be taken with the top selection, as noted by ESPN.
“It’s everything I’ve always dreamed of," Rutschman told MLB Network after he was drafted. “This is an unbelievable feeling. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Rutschman slashed .411/.575/.751 with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Beavers this season. He also threw out base stealers at a 48.1% rate.
Rutschman was considered the consensus top prospect in this year’s draft.
“So many people have asked me, if you had one negative thing to say about him, what would it be? I always tell them, nothing,” Oregon State interim coach Pat Bailey told Sports Illustrated last month. “There are a lot of really good players, but this guy’s going to be a game-changer.”
Rutschman was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and the conference’s batting champion. He’s a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country, as well.
“It’s hard to understate it — it’s a huge opportunity,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said before the draft, via the Associated Press. “Any time you’re picking high in the draft, not just the No. 1 pick, but a top-10 pick, you’ve got a pretty good shot of really getting a franchise cornerstone. But it’s not a 100% shot by any stretch of the imagination. It’s probably more like 50-50 if you look at the historical records of it. So you feel a lot of pressure.
“There’s a big upside to the opportunity, but nobody has a crystal ball and it’s not easy to nail.”
The Royals selected shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. out of Colleyville Heritage High School at No. 2 and the White Sox followed by picking University of California infielder Andrew Vaughn. Vanderbilt outfielder J.J. Bleday (Marlins) and Hagerty High School outfielder Riley Greene (Tigers) rounded out the top five.
