Basallo blasts baseballs in BP, Morton impressed with young catcher, Sugano speaks, Chirinos caught up in coaching

SARASOTA, Fla. – Samuel Basallo swung at the first pitch thrown today by starter Charlie Morton and sent a chopper to a vacated second base area in a live batting practice session. The 20-year-old kid was beaten by the savvy 41-year-old veteran, and it happened in the blink of an eye or the tearing of an imaginary ticket stub.

Basallo faced Morton again on the Ed Smith Stadium field, worked the count deeper and bounced again to the right side.

It was an unofficial 0-for-2 day against Morton, who was the only Oriole to take the mound. And it represented the only weak contact from Basallo so far in camp.

“It was really good, really competitive,” Basallo said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Obviously, someone who’s been in the big leagues for a long time. Lots of experience. But I felt really good being out there facing him.”

The top prospect in the system and 13^th overall per MLB Pipeline is entertaining observers in BP – coaches, teammates, media and fans who attend the workouts. He barrels everything with a smooth but powerful left-handed swing. His size and the sounds coming off his bat are imposing.

Basallo dug in yesterday against a pitching machine and almost struck the indoor cage beyond the right field fence on the Camden Yards replica field. He also drilled the padding in center with a line drive that created an indentation.

“I feel really good right now,” he said in English. “I feel like my swing is in a good position right now. I feel like I can recognize every pitch. My swing feels strong. I feel like I can hit the ball more hard this year than last year.”

Manager Brandon Hyde got a sneak preview of Basallo in January at the hitters’ camp in Sarasota. What he saw a month ago is repeated this week.

“It comes off the bat hot,” Hyde said. “It’s a really, really impressive batting practice. The physical tools are off the charts. I love his swing.

“We met with him this morning, had a great meeting with him. For 20 years old and being that composed and having that sort of ability, you don’t see that very often.”

Robinson Chirinos was one of the Orioles’ catchers in 2022 before retiring, and now he’s observing Basallo as the team’s bench coach.

“Today we had a meeting with him and every question he asked, it was in English. He was responding in English to the questions we were asking him,” Chirinos said.

“Everybody knows around here he’s a talented player and I think he’s gonna be an impact player in this organization -  close, soon. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and be able to continue his development as a player, especially at a position, you get thrown so much early in your career in the big leagues. And that’s something I know, Rutsch (Adley Rutschman) knows, he’s gonna know when he gets to the big leagues.

“We’re excited. He’s close, he’s talented, we believe he’s going to help this team. Only God knows when that’s going to happen, but he’s in a good spot right now.”

So good that Basallo should debut over the summer if the Orioles create a spot for him or fate intervenes.

“I do feel good about it, but it’s something I try not to think about too much,” he said. “I think ultimately it’s something that I leave up to God and to the team, whatever decisions they make.”

Gary Sánchez caught Morton this afternoon, one way to bond and to learn his arsenal. The Orioles signed Sánchez to an $8.5 million contract in December.

“Gary’s a pro,” Hyde said. “Met with him this morning, also. He’s all about winning, he’s all about helping the team. He has hurt us quite a bit since I’ve been here, and I told him that. I said I didn’t appreciate that at all.

“You talk to the people who have had Gary, there’s a lot of people who say he’s an incredible teammate, and he’s shown that so far and I’m super excited to have him.”

James McCann, the Orioles’ backup catcher the past two seasons, remains unsigned in free agency.

Morton said his live batting practice session was “normal,” which amounted to a positive experience. He didn’t want any surprises.

“Walked off the mound feeling good, healthy,” he said. “I got to throw to Gary, which is awesome. All in all, a first good day off the mound.”

The matchups with Basallo didn’t mean much to Morton. His impressions were formed after Basallo caught his bullpen session, and they were glowing.

“I got more out of that,” Morton said. “It’s my first time, it’s his first time, it’s February, so I try not to really … There were times where I would face (Ronald) Acuña in spring training and I’d blow his doors off, and that’s not happening in the season. You don’t really look at that. But when I threw that ‘pen to him, I was like, ‘Man, who is this?’ Because I’m trying to get to know everybody. And they said, ‘He’s our big prospect, catcher.’

“I was like, ‘Man, I like the hands. I like the way his body moves. He’s got a big target.’ He seems like a really nice dude. But today, I’m honestly more focused on getting through that and walking off the mound healthy and having not hit anybody. Those are my goals, and that’s what I told everybody.”

* Tomoyuki Sugano reported to camp, spoke to the team and went through his first workout. More than a dozen members of the Japanese media tracked his every move and staked out the area at the baseball operations center where he’d speak for the first time since a video call.

“I always wanted to play in the big leagues,” he said via team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “I had a really good season last year, so I thought it was a good time to come over this year.”

Sugano trained in Hawaii for two months and should be ready for his first side session by Monday. He must adapt to the pitch clock, a larger baseball that isn’t coated in a sticky substance, and a modified workload.

To that last point, Sugano said he often pitched every fifth day. Extra rest wasn’t always available with the Yomiuri Giants.

“I don’t necessarily feel any burdens going into the season,” he said.

Morton met Sugano this morning and appreciated again how the sport provides these opportunities for friendships to form.

“Baseball is really neat, and especially how whether it’s cultural, whether there’s language barriers, whether there’s age gaps, baseball can transcend that and you can experience some really cool moments with different people from different places. For me, that’s one of the most rewarding things,” Morton said.

“I shook his hand, I looked him in the eye and was like, ‘Man, this is like a really cool thing that we got to do this.’ He gets to be here in a place that he deserves to be, and I’m excited to sit there and watch him and pull for him as a teammate and support him and get to know him.”

* Chirinos appreciates the chance to get back in an Orioles uniform. For years, he was viewed within the industry as a future coach or manager.

“I love this game so much,” he said. “I knew at some point I was going to get back to the game, and thank God it was with a team and an organization I wanted to be. Those two matching together is amazing. You don’t always get those, and I was blessed enough to have the opportunity.”

Chirinos began to hear the chirping about his coaching future in 2017 after he hit .255/.360/.506 with the Rangers. It just seemed natural to him.

“I was a guy who learned from my mother and my dad to care for people and help people, and I did it through the minor leagues, I did it when I was a rookie in the big leagues, I did it in ’22, my last year as a player. So it was something I looked for,” he said.

“I think it’s one of the things, people watched me when I was a player, maybe saw I was a potential coach just because of how my personality was. It’s something I love to do and I learned that from my mother and dad. So I’m excited for what is coming in my career here and what I can do for this team.”

How did Chirinos know exactly when it was time to ease his way out of catching? He picked up on the subtle hints.

"In the offseason '21, I got two offers to play and I got five offers to be a coach," he said, laughing. "That's how you know you're close to being a coach, when you get more phone calls in the offseason to coach."