In just his second major league season, Adley Rutschman has proven to be one of the best catchers in baseball. The 25-year-old is the cornerstone of the Orioles franchise for the foreseeable future.
Yet the Orioles have another young catcher coming through the pipeline, one who showcases big power potential and a strong right arm in Samuel Basallo, who cracked Baseball America‘s latest top-100 prospect list at No. 79. The 18-year-old Dominican is one of the youngest prospects on the list and has gotten off to an impressive start in his 2023 campaign with Low-A Delmarva.
Basallo is hitting at .289/.347/.454 clips through 56 games with 63 hits and 43 RBIs entering play on June 20. But outside of his production, it’s his physical profile that enamors scouts.
“Samuel Basallo is one who has shown impressive raw tools at a premium position. He’s extremely advanced physically. He’s got really impressive raw power. We have him with a 70-grade arm,” Baseball America‘s Carlos Collazo said on Glenn Clark Radio June 12. “It’s just a lot of tools and a lot of potential impact, and if he’s going to keep hitting and tapping into that power as he advances through the minor league system, he could rocket up this list even more in the future.”
Shorebirds manager Felipe Alou Jr. also spoke about what makes Basallo an intriguing prospect.
“This kid, he could be a good all-around package. I mean, he can catch, he can throw, he’s a really smart baserunner and then he can hit,” Alou said on GCR June 9. “… For an 18-year-old kid to be able to do what he’s been doing, we definitely have someone special.”
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Basallo signed with the Orioles at the age of 16 as an amateur international free agent in 2021. He received a $1.3 million signing bonus, which at the time was the largest bonus ever given to an amateur international prospect by the Orioles
Basallo smashed 11 home runs and recorded 51 RBIs in his first two seasons playing complex league ball. Since then, he has improved in almost every way.
“He’s very demanding on himself. This is a kid that works really, really hard on a daily basis, and I know he put up really good work during the offseason,” Alou said. “There’s no doubt why his numbers are where they’re at.”
Rutschman may be in line for a huge contract extension and with every game, the price tag is growing larger. If the Orioles do get a Rutschman deal done, that would complicate Basallo’s path to a regular catching job in Baltimore, although Basallo has played some first base for Delmarva as well.
Coupled with the fact that a prospect of Basallo’s caliber is in demand, he would be valuable to other teams looking for a young backstop.
“It’s very hard to get kind of a franchise everyday catcher with offensive upside,” Collazo said. “If Basallo is that guy, and you feel confident that Adley Rutschman is a top-two, top-three catcher in baseball for the foreseeable future, which he certainly looks like he is, why not trade from that?”
The Orioles are an example of why it’s good to have a plethora of prospects even with a lot of talent at the major league level. Many of Baltimore’s young players have blossomed into stars, allowing the Orioles to explore trading their prospect depth for a proven player who can make an immediate impact at the major league level.
With the way the Orioles have performed so far this season, decisions will have to be made as part of a push to contend for a title. Still, Basallo is maturing and ironing out the weaknesses in his game that come with being such a young prospect.
“There’s still a little bit of refinement he needs defensively, still questions of what the overall quality of the hit tool is going to be, but in terms of physicality, tools he’s a really exciting player,” Collazo said. “I think the defensive profile of catcher has probably evolved to align nicely with his tool set.”
For more from Carlos Collazo, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Felipe Alou Jr., listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Delmarva Shorebirds