Samuel Basallo on up to Triple-A. The Orioles' top 100 catching prospect is being promoted to Norfolk after homering for Bowie today in his final game with the Double-A Baysox.

Basallo is ranked as the No. 11 prospect in baseball per MLBPipeline.com and No. 17 by Baseball America. He’s had a very solid year at Double-A that included an appearance in the All-Star Futures Game in July in Arington, Tex.

Now, in just his second year of full-season minor league ball, he is moving up again. He began last year at Low-A Delmarva, moved to High-A Aberdeen and ended 2023 with Bowie, hitting 20 homers with an OPS of .953 for those clubs. This year he takes the step from Double-A to Triple-A having turned 20 just 12 days ago.

In 106 Bowie games, Basallo has hit .289/.355/.465/.820 with 22 doubles, 16 homers and 55 RBIs. Basallo began this season as a DH-only with the Orioles in big league camp after suffering a stress fracture in his right elbow over the winter. He’s been catching since early this season. He has made 45 starts this season catching with a 27 percent caught stealing percentage, 27 starts at first base and 29 as DH.

He became the 14^th Baysox player selected to play in the Futures Game, where he batted fourth for the American League team, going 0-for-1 with a walk.

When Triple-A Norfolk infielder and sometimes center fielder Terrin Vavra was a teenager, he got quite an experience in baseball. He learned things that help him today as he plays for the O’s Norfolk affiliate and he closes in on his first call to the major leagues.

He got off to a great start this year for the Tides – and was batting .327 through 13 games – when he suffered a hamstring injury. He would return a little over a month later after a short rehab assignment with high Single-A Aberdeen. He has picked up hitting just as he had in April.

Through 28 games with Norfolk through Sunday's games, Vavra was batting .312/.419/.422 with an OPS of.841 and showing solid walk (13.8) and strikeout rates (16.2) with 18 walks to 21 strikeouts. A third round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Minnesota in 2018, Vavra was added by the Orioles when they traded Mychal Givens to Colorado on Aug. 30, 2020. That deal sent Vavra, Tyler Nevin and a player to be named later to the Orioles. The PTNL became young outfielder Mishael Deson, who is now with low Single-A Delmarva.

But as for Vavra, his baseball education includes rubbing elbows as a teen with players like Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau. His father, Joe, was the hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins during much of his time on their staff from 2006 through 2017 and he later also coached for the Detroit Tigers. Vavra has two older brothers that played in the minors too. Tanner was a 30^th round draft pick by Minnesota in 2013 and Trey was selected by the same Twins team a year later in round 33.

That is some impressive family background in the pro game.