Adley Rutschman learned he'd been traded to the Red Sox in about the least baseball setting imaginable: walking into a movie theater, flanked by three of his now-former teammates.
Rutschman, Colton Cowser, Ryan Mountcastle, and Gunnar Henderson were about to see "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" when the catcher got the call. They didn't end up seeing the movie.
Adley Rutschman, Colton Cowser, Ryan Mountcastle and Gunnar Henderson were about to see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in theaters when the catcher received the call that he had been traded, Cowser said.
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) August 4, 2026
They didn’t end up seeing the movie, obviously.
“It was pretty emotional,”…
"It was pretty emotional," Cowser said Tuesday in the Orioles' clubhouse at Camden Yards, according to Baltimore Sun reporter Jacob Calvin Meyer. "All I could do was give him a hug and tell him that I'm here for him and I love him."
Cowser went further on what the friendship — and the sudden end of playing alongside him — actually means. "He's truly gonna be missed here. As a friend, he's someone who I've grown really close with. He's gonna be in my wedding. He's someone who I'm gonna miss dearly on a day-to-day basis," Cowser said. "That part sucks — just not getting to see him every day. But he's going to do great things, and I'll always be in his corner."
Rutschman, a three-time All-Star and first overall draft pick in 2019, was traded to Boston on Monday in exchange for primarily pitching prospects from the Red Sox.