NORFOLK – (Tides Press Release)
The Baltimore Orioles announced that Adley Rutschman and Kyle Stowers are co-winners of the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year Award. Both hitters were promoted to Triple-A late in the season, with Rutschman arriving on August 10 and Stowers on September 7. They are the seventh and eighth Tides to win the award since 2007, joining L.J. Hoes (2012), Henry Urrutia (2013), Christian Walker (2014), Chance Sisco (2016), Cedric Mullins (2018) and 2019 International League MVP Ryan Mountcastle. Rutschman and Stowers are the first Oriole minor leaguers to split the award.
ADLEY RUTSCHMAN, 23, is the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He began the year with Double-A Bowie before earning a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk on August 10. In 38 games with the Tides through September 26, Rutschman is batting .319/.415/.522 (44-for-138) with nine doubles, two triples, five home runs, 22 runs scored, 20 RBI, and 22 walks. He slashed .271/.392/.508 (80-for-295) with 16 doubles, 18 home runs, 61 runs scored, 55 RBI, and 55 walks in 80 games for the Baysox this season, en route to being selected to the 2021 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. His .914 OPS in 118 games between Bowie and Norfolk leads all Orioles minor leaguers. Rutschman earned Orioles Minor League Player of the Month honors in August after batting .337/.408/.511 (31-for-92) with a .919 OPS, seven doubles, three home runs, 16 runs scored, 11 RBI, and nine walks in 24 games between Bowie and Norfolk. He was also named Double-A Northeast Player of the Week for the week of July 19-25. He slashed .409/.552/.955 (9-for-22) in six games for the Baysox in that span, with a 1.507 OPS, three doubles, three home runs, seven runs scored, 11 RBI, and seven walks. Rutschman was selected by the Orioles in the first round (No. 1 overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon State University.
KYLE STOWERS, 23, has appeared in 119 games across three levels of the Orioles minor league system. He began the season with High-A Aberdeen before being promoted to Double-A Bowie on June 22 and Triple-A Norfolk on September 7. As of September 26, Stowers leads all Orioles minor leaguers with 27 home runs, 51 extra-base hits, and 229 total bases. He notched two multi-homer games for the Baysox this season and registered a career-high four RBI on September 3 prior to his promotion to Norfolk. Stowers has slashed .299/.390/.463 (20-for-67) in 18 games for the Tides through September 26, with two doubles, three home runs, 10 runs scored, 10 RBI, and 10 walks. He earned Orioles Minor League Player of the Month honors in July after batting .340/.436/.640 (34-for-100) with a 1.076 OPS, nine doubles, seven home runs, 17 runs scored, 15 RBI, and 16 walks in 27 games for the Baysox. He is rated as the No. 11 prospect in the Orioles system by MLB Pipeline and No. 17 by Baseball America. Stowers was selected by the Orioles in the CBB round (No. 71 overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Stanford University (CA).
Along with the announcement of Rutschman and Stowers winning the Brooks Robinson Award, the Baltimore Orioles yesterday announced Grayson Rodriguez as the Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season. Bowie Manager Buck Britton was also named the winner of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Player Development Award, named for the late Orioles coach and manager who is widely regarded as the architect of “The Oriole Way.” Area scout Brandon Verley will receive the Jim Russo Scout of the Year Award, named in honor of the man who spent 33 years in various scouting capacities with the Orioles beginning with their move from St. Louis in 1954. The award winners will be honored in an on-field ceremony prior the game against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, September 28, with awards presented by Director of Player Development Matt Blood, Director of Minor League Operations Kent Qualls, and Supervisor of Domestic Scouting Operations Brad Ciolek.