Samuel Basallo
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| Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire |
Bio:
Age: 18
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Hometown: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Draft Profile: Signed as International Free Agent January 15, 2021
Drafted Out of: N/A
Career Stat Line: .266 AVG .348 OBP 12 HR 53 RBI 2 SB 0.974 Fielding %
The Chopping Lines Minor League Spotlight is back and ready to roll, 2023 edition. Some excellent prospects from the 2022 draft class are beginning to emerge and establish themselves as the future of the league. There's a bunch of exciting international prospects following suit, including our spotlight today, which falls on the Orioles' catcher Samuel Basallo.
Basallo came onto the scene for Baltimore in January of 2021, when he signed with the team for a $1.3 million dollar signing bonus (MLB.com). At the time, it was the largest bonus Baltimore had ever given an international prospect. He was just sixteen, but came with a fascinating set of tools to work with. A lefty bat, 6'3" frame, seemingly limitless power potential at the plate and a strong arm for the field...what more could you ask for?
How about signing him before the rival Yankees could? The Dominican was apparently heavily connected to the Bronx Bombers prior to the O's swooping in to ink him to a deal; a symbolic victory within the prized acquisition (Camden Chat). The rest of his inaugural season went down at the DSL, with the catcher batting .239 in 41 games. While the average leaves plenty of room for improvement, a deeper dive shows many points of optimism. This was a kid playing with guys 2-3 years older than him, and more than holding his own. He also slugged .334 with five long balls; pretty impressive for essentially a JV guy rolling with the big dogs.
By 2022, the young gun was not only ascending the Orioles prospect rankings, but also moving up the farm. He played 43 games at the Florida Complex League, slashing a .278/6/32 line while improving his slugging percentage and OPS. In the process, he jumped into the organization's top thirty prospects, climbing into the teens across multiple media outlets. Slowly but surely, the hype was beginning to deliver the product.
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| The Athletic |
Just a few, short weeks ago, Samuel was down in Florida with the Birds for Spring Training. While playing an intrasquad game at Ed Smith Stadium, the now 18 year-old squared off against future ace Grayson Rodriguez. After fouling off the first two fastballs he saw, Basallo made sure to punish the third, hitting a rocket to the opposite field and out of the park.
"Some of the staff in Florida, I was asking about some of the kids I would face that day and they mentioned Basallo," Rodriguez said. "They were joking around with me. They said, 'You better not throw him fastballs.' I went out that day- and I think it was an FCL off-day- and I only got to face two hitters. He was one. The first at-bat we kind of mixed up speeds a bit and got him on something in the dirt. The second at-bat, I was thinking he would be looking for it (another mix) and went fastball on the hands for a foul ball and fastball again that he foul-tipped. And just like the previous at-bat, thinking he was thinking we'd go off-speed here, I threw a third fastball and he hit to to left-center field. It was a line drive homer. He's got some pop." (MASNSports) High praise from a fellow prized prospect, only fueling the hype train.
While that was his main highlight of the preseason, there were still plenty of reasons to get excited about the now 12th-ranked member of the system. Videos like this of #62 ripping balls were salivating for those following the Baby Birds down on the farm. Regardless of where Basallo ends up defensively, there's plenty to be optimistic over in that bat.
His 2023 season got underway last night as a member of the Delmarva Shorebirds, going 3-5 with a home run and two RBI. Welcome to Low-A ball! Creed Willems will be a great teammate to work with in the catchers' room down on the Eastern Shore as Samuel continues to acclimate to the heightened competition. One thing's for sure though: the moment wasn't too big in his first go round. Excited to see where he can go from here.
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@Choppinglines
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