Much of the Orioles’ 2024 season was easy to understand.

After a year and a half of stellar production in clutch situations, the club was expected to regress offensively at some point. The bullpen wasn’t as dominant without Félix Bautista, and Craig Kimbrel’s midseason deterioration didn’t help. Injuries to the starting rotation and infield turned the defending American League East champions into a team swept out of the wild-card round.

But one key aspect of last season’s disappointment has remained unanswered as spring training approaches: What happened to Adley Rutschman?

Rutschman spoke to local media for the first time since the Orioles’ season ended with a playoff sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals. As expected, the star catcher didn’t get into specifics about what ailed him at the plate — or whether anything ailed him physically as a result of catching nearly 900 innings — but he did express optimism about the upcoming season.

“I always have confidence in myself,” Rutschman said Friday before the Orioles’ Birdland Caravan event at PBR Baltimore. “I trust my ability to bounce back and work hard and get healthy and do all the things necessary. I’ve got great guys around me, great coaches, so I’m very excited.”

Through June 27, Rutschman hit .300 with an .830 OPS with 15 homers — elite numbers for a catcher. But he hit .189 with only four home runs the rest of the season and went 1-for-8 in Baltimore’s two postseason games.

In early September, as Rutschman’s downturn entered its third month, manager Brandon Hyde said the two-time All-Star was “playing really frustrated.” Rutschman declined to address his struggles during the season, instead stating he was “focused on the team and focused on our playoff push.”

After the season ended, Hyde and general manager Mike Elias backed Rutschman, noting the wear and tear a catcher deals without throughout a 162-game season and the pressure he put on himself. Rutschman, Hyde and Elias all said the 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick wasn’t dealing with a specific injury.

“He’s our guy,” Elias said in October. “I have nothing but confidence that he’s going to be back to Adley Rutschman in 2025.”

“Adley is going to be a really good player and had a tough second half, dealing with adversity for really the first time,” Hyde said. “I think he’s going to have a great year next year.”Rutschman said Friday he spent time this offseason having “tough conversations” with Orioles hitting coaches to get “everything sorted out.” He wouldn’t pinpoint what went into his struggles, just stating it was “a lot of factors” and that he’s made “adjustments” to his swing.

“I really like where we’re at right now,” he said.

The Orioles made three moves this offseason that could help Rutschman get back on track in 2025. The first was bringing in former catcher Robinson Chirinos as Hyde’s bench coach. Chirinos was Baltimore’s backup catcher in 2022 when Rutschman was a rookie. He was a highly respected member of the clubhouse and one of Hyde’s favorites. While Rutschman’s been a star for most of his MLB career, his rookie season remains the best of his young career. His 5.4 wins above replacement in 113 games in 2022, according to Baseball-Reference’s estimation, is the best of his career, ahead of the 4.3 WAR in 2023 and 3.4 WAR last year.

“He’s an all-time human being,” Rutschman said of Chirinos. “He’s a great guy to play with. I’m really excited to have him around. He’s going to be a great energy guy, a great coach and super, super knowledgeable.”

The Orioles also parted ways with their two hitting coaches — Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller — and promoted Cody Asche. A favorite of the players, Asche has worked closely with Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and others in the organization over the past few years.

“Asche is a great hitting coach, great guy, super good with all the players and everyone’s individual needs as far as hitting goes,” Rutschman said. “It’s so tough to be a hitting coach, but he does a great job of adapting to each guy’s needs and really shifting how he interacts and talks with each guy.”

Another change this offseason that could help Rutschman was the decision to move in Camden Yards’ left field wall.

Rutschman has dealt with the deep wall at Oriole Park for his entire MLB career, and the switch-hitter will have the ability to put more long balls out to left field from both sides of the plate.

“I mean,” he said when asked about his reaction to the move while smiling, “I’m not disappointed.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.