The Baltimore Orioles were already hurting at catcher, with star Adley Rutschman being placed on the IL on Saturday afternoon with an oblique strain that figures to hold him out until after the All-Star break.

But what started as a problem could now be turning into a crisis, as Rutschman’s backup, Maverick Handley, had to leave Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees after a scary collision with Jazz Chisholm Jr. at home plate.

It was a freak plate, with no one at fault: Colton Cowser’s throw home took Handley up the third-base line, and as he tried to reach out and catch the ball, it took him right into Chisholm Jr.’s path with no opportunity to avoid contact or slow himself down.

Handley was understandably forced to leave the game after being looked at for several minutes by the team’s training staff.

The O’s have yet to issue any sort of official update on his status, but given the nature of the play, it’s easy to speculate about a potential concussion.

That would require an IL stint of its own, and in that case, Baltimore might be forced to go back on its best-laid plans regarding top prospect Samuel Basallo.

Maverick Handley injury could force Baltimore’s hand with top prospect Samuel Basallo

With Rutschman and Handley both unavailable, Baltimore is forced to turn to Gary Sanchez, who came up with the Yankees as a catcher but is really more of a DH at this point in his career. Sanchez can man the position in a pinch, but he’s hardly a full-time solution.

The O’s would seem to have one of those in the Minors right now in the form of Samuel Basallo, MLB Pipeline’s No. 15 overall prospect who’s currently laying waste to Triple-A.

In the wake of Rutschman’s injury on Saturday, Baltimore said that Basallo wouldn’t be getting the call as the team didn’t want to rush him to the Majors too quickly.

Now, though, the O’s might not have a choice: Sanchez can’t be asked to suit up on a daily basis, and the only other options in Norfolk are David Banuelos and Atlanta Braves castoff Chadwick Tromp.

Maybe Baltimore will simply promote Tromp, who has a decent amount of MLB experience, and hope that he and Sanchez can hold things down for a week or so until Handley is able to return.

Even in that best-case scenario, though, the O’s would have arguably the weakest catching situation in the league, which isn’t great for a team trying to climb back into the postseason picture.