In Bowie, Samuel Basallo on his strong year, trade rumors and the Futures Game

BOWIE, Md. - From the day they signed him to a big bonus, the largest in their international signing class in January of 2021, the Orioles envisioned this for catcher Samuel Basallo from the Dominican Republic.

Big arm and big power.

He’s thrown runners out as a catcher and mashed homers with big exit velocity with his massive raw power. He has done all that and more on the O's watch. Last year he flew up prospects lists. He began the 2023 season as the No. 15 prospect on the O’s top 30 team list. Now that is the area he is ranked in on a top 100 list.

Basallo ended the 2023 season, one where he produced a .953 OPS between Low-A Delmarva, High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, ranked No. 46 in the top 100 by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com. Right now, he is No. 12 by MLBPipeline and No. 16 via Baseball America.

Everyone in the industry knows he’s one of baseball’s top prospects. And he is taking his talents to Arlington, Tex. on July 13 to represent the Orioles in the All-Star Futures Game.

By the way he is still a teenager at 19 and won't turn 20 until Aug. 13.

In eight days, he will take his rightful place with the some of the best young talent in the game at Globe Life Field.

“Super blessed to be able to play in this game and this was one of my goals to start the year,” Basallo told me Wednesday at Bowie’s Prince George’s Stadium.

“Being invited as one of the top players as a prospect is pretty awesome and exciting and is something I wanted to accomplish. Blessed to have the opportunity. Looking forward to the experience to meet some players and I know some that are on the rosters," he said with interpreting help from Bowie manager Roberto Mercado.

Said Mercado: “The work he puts in day in and day out and how much passion he has for this game is awesome to see every day. It is a blessing to have him represent the organization in the Futures Game. It is one of the goals he wanted to reach. He deserved it and earned it.”

Wednesday night, in Bowie’s 9-5 loss to Richmond, Basallo unloaded in the last of the third inning. With two men on he crushed a ball to right-center with 109 mph exit velocity that he drove 413-feet headed for the woods beyond the fence. The three-run jack was loud, and one press box observer noted, “When he hits them, they just sound different.”

“Things are going well. Keep working to get better every single day and never will be satisfied,” said Basallo modestly about a season where through Wednesday he is batting .279/.342/.468/.810 with 14 doubles, 12 homers, 41 runs, seven steals and with 37 RBIs.

Afte a slow start, he produced an OPS of .791 in May and .894 in June.

He began the year as a DH-only after suffering a stress fracture in his throwing elbow in November. But he has now made 27 starts catching and 19 at first base.

“Yes, everything is good. Feel great now. It took some time to get the feel, but the arm is 100 percent,” said Basallo.

As a highly rated prospect he is a marked man for opponent pitchers. But he likes that.

“I embrace it. It’s a challenge and I like to compete. Guys fighting to get me out, I take that as a challenge. I look forward to the competition,” said Basallo, who signed with the Orioles for $1.3 million on Jan. 15, 2021.

Basallo has hit a ball a max of 115 mph this year, Wednesday’s blast the latest example of his exit velocity prowess. Per an AL scout, he is averaging 92.8 mph exit velocity this year. Among the Orioles at the big league level, only Gunnar Henderson (94.0) tops that. Basallo’s hard-hit rate (percent of balls in play at 95 mph or better) is 52.0 percent. Again, among the O’s, only Henderson (at 57.2) tops that.

To truly see Basallo’s ability to square up a baseball, we can note his 20.7-barrel percentage. That is elite. To be barreled, a ball requires an exit velo of at least 98 mph. At that speed, balls struck with a launch angle between 26 and 30 degrees always garner barreled classification. For every mph over 98, the range of launch angles expands.

The O’s leaders in barrel percentage are Colton Cowser at 15.4 and Henderson at 13.2.

To improve his game, Basallo is working on making better swing decisions. Chase less and only swing at hittable pitches, not those on the margins of the strikezone.

“He needs to make sure he has a plan and is sticking to that plan,” said Mercado. “He is hunting pitches in the zone that he wants to attack, not the pitcher’s pitch. If it’s 0-0, we tell our guys all the time, 0-0 is like 3-1. If it’s a pitch you can do damage on let’s swing at it. If it’s a pitcher’s pitch, maybe on the corner, let’s play another day. That is the main focus.”

Basallo seems to be dealing with trade rumors as well as he deals with Eastern League middle-middle fastballs. He knows the MLB trade deadline is approaching and O’s top prospects will be sought-after by other clubs.

“I trust the front office on whatever decisions they make. I do not think much about it. I just try to continue to get better every day and need to focus on what I can control.

“It’s up to the front office and I try not to worry about it. Some people say, ‘Hey your name came up.’ But it doesn’t impact me," he said. 

Watch this: Click here to see my Twitter post and the video from the blast Basallo hit Wednesday. You can hear how loud it sounded and see the bat flip that came with it.