Basallo rising on prospects lists; looking at some possible non-roster invites

The love for Orioles minor league catcher Samuel Basallo keeps growing, with The Athletic’s Keith Law ranking him third yesterday on the site’s top 100 prospects list.

Red Sox minor league outfielder Roman Anthony is first and Rangers infielder Sebastian Walcott is second.

Baseball Prospectus ranks Basallo at No. 11, three spots ahead of Coby Mayo and 35 ahead of Enrique Bradfield Jr. Baseball America ranks Basallo 14^th, which is 15 spots ahead of Mayo and 67 ahead of Heston Kjerstad, who still qualifies at this outlet. Basallo is the highest rated catcher.

The Athletic has Mayo 18^th and Bradfield 82^nd.

The obsessing and hype surrounding past decorated Orioles prospects Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday is shifting to Basallo, who celebrated his 20^th birthday in August.

FanGraphs concluded 2024 with Basallo No. 1 in baseball. MLB Pipeline’s final 2024 rankings had Basallo second in the organization after Mayo and 13^th in baseball, one spot ahead of Mayo. I’m not sure how that makes sense, but Basallo is on the rise.

The Orioles signed Basallo for $1.3 million in the international market back in 2021, at the time representing the largest bonus in club history. He produced big exit velocities and exhibited power to all fields, an advanced approach at the plate and a big-time arm. An organization vowing to elevate its profile internationally, to become serious players for some of the top talent, landed one of its primary targets. But he was so young.

He's getting older and better.

Basallo reached Triple-A Norfolk last summer after batting .289/.355/.465 with 22 doubles, 16 home runs and 55 RBIs in 106 games with Double-A Bowie. He had three doubles and three homers in 21 games with the Tides.

“Samuel Basallo is an incredible player,” Orioles director of player development Anthony Villa told the media at the Winter Meetings. “The fact that he’s doing what he’s doing at freshly turned 20 years old is amazing. All in all, a very productive season for him to be that young and play as well as he did at Double-A and advance up into Triple-A.

“If you were to talk to him, he understands that continued maturity is a thing. I don’t think any 20 year old is ever ready for upper-level baseball. He continues to learn from each game, the little mistakes, the emotional struggles that each game can provide. He’s doing a really nice job with that.”

“It’s easy to envision him as being a superstar in the big leagues someday,” vice president of international scouting Koby Perez said at the Winter Meetings. “We’re hoping that comes sooner than later.”

The Orioles will get more looks at Basallo in spring training. He’s expected to receive another camp invitation, as he did last year. But this time, he won’t be recovering from a stress fracture in his right elbow that limited him initially to designated hitter duty.

Basallo will return to Norfolk to start the season but could make his major league debut over the summer. Gary Sánchez is signed for $8.5 million to serve as the backup catcher, but the Orioles could go multiple routes to get Basallo onto the roster, including September expansion. Anything earlier would require an injury or removal of a player blocking him.

The list of spring invites will be made available soon, and the Orioles will carry a healthy number of catchers to work with a large pitching staff. Sánchez and Adley Rutschman are the only ones on the 40-man roster after the Diamondbacks claimed René Pinto on waivers and Blake Hunt was traded to the Mariners.

David Bañuelos and Maverick Handley are on Norfolk’s roster and will have lockers set up in the clubhouse at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Bowie’s Silas Ardoin received an invitation last spring and should return. Baysox catchers also include Creed Willems, ranked 21^st in the organization by MLB Pipeline, Connor Pavolony and Adam Retzbach. Ethan Anderson, a second-round draft pick in 2024 who’s ranked 12^th, finished the past season at High-A Aberdeen.

Last spring’s original invite list included catcher Michael Pérez, traded to the Mariners in May for Hunt. He’s a minor league free agent.

One of the biggest curiosities is whether Bradfield, a first-round draft pick in 2023, arrives at major league camp. He climbed from Aberdeen to Bowie last year and finished with a combined .272/.358/.371 line in 108 games with 74 stolen bases in 87 attempts. He led off for the Orioles in the Spring Breakout game against the Pirates’ Paul Skenes.

Bradfield had the only Orioles hit, beating out a bunt in front of the plate in the third inning. An out in most cases, but not with him running. Statcast clocked him at 3.69 seconds from home to first, faster than any Orioles player last season.

Non-roster outfielders also could include Dylan Beavers, the No. 6 prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline, Jordyn Adams, Nick Gordon and Franklin Barreto. The infield candidates include Liván Soto, Vimael Machin and Jacob Amaya if he stays in the organization after being designated for assignment yesterday.

Daniel Johnson was the only non-roster outfielder last year. He’s a free agent.

Pitchers Matt Bowman and Thaddeus Ward seem like certainties. Bowman was re-signed to a minor league deal and Ward was outrighted on Dec. 6 after being claimed on waivers from the Nationals a month earlier.

Nathan Webb also will be on the major league side. I’m wondering about Keagan Gillies and Alex Pham.