When the Baltimore Orioles promoted Dylan Beavers, one of their top prospects, to the majors on Saturday, there was obvious excitement, but not over-the-top enthusiasm felt by O's fans. The reason for that is because while Beavers was certainly deserving and a good prospect, Samuel Basallo, the organization's top prospect, was still languishing in Triple-A. Well, roughly 24 hours later, Basallo got the long-awaited call-up to the majors.
The Orioles have selected the contract of C/1B Samuel Basallo from Triple-A Norfolk. pic.twitter.com/OB8PRbilW5
— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) August 17, 2025
Basallo, MLB Pipeline's No. 8 prospect overall, might've only turned 21 years old four days ago as of this writing, but he's dominated Triple-A pitching. In 76 games this season, he's slashed .270/.377/.589 with 23 home runs and 67 RBI. He's missed some time due to injury, but 23 home runs in 76 games for a player who just turned 21 years old at Triple-A is just absurdly impressive.
Sure, there are questions about his glove, but his bat is beyond special. He has a chance to anchor Baltimore's lineup for years to come. Here's where he might fit in that lineup in his MLB debut and beyond.
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Projected Orioles lineup with Samuel Basallo in it
Orioles Batting Order | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|
1 | Jackson Holliday | 2B |
2 | Jordan Westburg | 3B |
3 | Gunnar Henderson | SS |
4 | Adley Rutschman | C |
5 | Samuel Basallo | DH |
6 | Colton Cowser | LF |
7 | Coby Mayo | 1B |
8 | Dylan Beavers | RF |
9 | Dylan Carlson | CF |
There are three major questions that immediately must be answered with Basallo's call-up. The first one is where will he play? He was brought up as a catcher through the minors, but Adley Rutschman has established himself as the man in that position. For now, I have him slotted in at DH, but he can, and presumably will, play some first base too. He might even catch some when Rutschman needs to DH or take a day off.
The second question is who will be benched? Basallo won't catch most days, so he'll be slotted in at DH or first base. The problem, though, is that before his call-up, the Orioles had Coby Mayo, a former top prospect who is finally starting to show signs of life at the big league level, at first base, and Ryan Mountcastle, a proven veteran, at DH. Mayo could play third, but with Jordan Westburg there, he won't do so more often than not.
I have Mountcastle on the bench for now for the simple reason that he likely isn't part of Baltimore's future. While this lineup is exciting, the Orioles are 56-67 — their sole focus should be on developing young guys like Basallo and Mayo and focusing on 2026.
The third question is will the Orioles play Basallo every day? I believe they should - just look at what playing everyday has done for Roman Anthony, but I'm not convinced that they will.
Basallo, a left-handed hitter, crushed right-handed pitching this season in Triple-A to the tune of a 1.031 OPS, but his .210/.290/.452 slash line against left-handers was less than stellar. He's shown he can hit for power against lefties, but the hit tool needs some improvement. That improvement will only come with reps, but since both Mayo and Mountcastle are right-handed hitters, perhaps interim manager Tony Mansolino will opt to shield Basallo from southpaws knowing he's got other options to turn to.
Regardless of how things end up working on the day-to-day, what we do know is that Basallo will factor into the equation on most nights and has a chance to make an immediate impact in the majors. It might've taken longer than it should have, but it should be very fun to watch him swing the bat in an already potent lineup.