Samuel Basallo has been a major leaguer for less than a week and he’s on a record pace.

Basallo was the first player signed and developed by the Orioles’ new international program to reach the majors. He became only the second player to record an RBI in his first three games and to collect five over that same period. And most stunning, of course, is his distinction as the first to receive a contract extension of four-plus years under executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias.

It wasn’t Adley Rutschman or Gunnar Henderson or Jackson Holliday or Colton Cowser or Jordan Westburg or Coby Mayo or Dylan Beavers.

It was the kid who just turned 21 and made his debut on Sunday.

Maybe the organization’s plan is to start with the youngest and work its way up.

Elias can explain later today how he reached this point. He keeps negotiations private, which likely prevents him from sharing any progress made with other young players. He’s going to be asked.

Locking up Basallo is easier in the infant stages of his career. Players getting closer to arbitration and free agency can be more resistant to long-term commitments. Basallo is repped by CAA Baseball, which eliminates the Scott Boras factor.

Basallo has made a terrific first impression on the field and also in the clubhouse. Interim manager Tony Mansolino said reaction from teammates to yesterday’s news was positive.

How does he know?

“Well, I’ve seen it,” he replied.

And then he described it.

“I watched earlier. I was sitting in the room, and I won’t say who, but I saw several guys right away walk up to Sammy when he walked in the clubhouse and shook his hand, gave him hugs, told him congratulations. And some pretty prominent players did it,” Mansolino said.

“Great joy for Sammy in a lot of ways, and just a lot of leadership by some of those guys right there. Was super thrilled by those reactions by those guys. And honestly, I don’t think I’d expect anything different.”

Mansolino noted how Basallo’s reaction to the new contract, which the club didn’t begin negotiating until Sunday, was very mature.

“Just like everything else he does. Calm and collected in a lot of ways,” Mansolino added.

“This is a big deal for him and for his family and for our organization. … This is a really big deal for a lot of people.”

Basallo was out of the lineup last night, resting from his physical – yeah, I know he’s 21 – after going 4-for-14 with a double, five RBIs and only one strikeout. He’s caught and he’s pinch-hit. He’s batted in pressure situations and delivered. He isn’t flustered while surrounded by media at his locker, answering in English a few days ago rather than using interpreter Brandon Quinones. The smiles come easily.

They stretched ear-to-ear yesterday.

The Orioles caught up to the trend of teams signing their pre-arb players to extensions, which requires a roll of the dice and confidence that they come away winners. The Royals did it with Bobby Witt Jr., the Diamondbacks with Corbin Carroll, the Red Sox with Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell, the Mariners with Julio Rodríguez, the Braves with Ronald Acuña Jr., the Brewers with Jackson Chourio and the White Sox with Luis Robert Jr.

The situation is unique in Baltimore with Rutschman and Basallo playing the same position. Rutschman is approaching his first year of arbitration eligibility, and the Orioles keep insisting that the two players can co-exist.

“Without a doubt,” Mansolino said. “You guys haven’t seen Sammy play first base yet in the big leagues. I saw in spring training. That’s why I am excited to see in a game here soon. But the fact that Sammy is so versatile, that’s gonna help a lot, and you’ve also got a DH position.

“Anytime you have two guys that can catch at a high level on a big league team, you have a massive advantage over teams that don’t.”

There’s also the first two picks in this year’s draft, Ike Irish and Caden Bodine – college catchers who could move quickly. Irish has played first base and right field and served as designated hitter at Class A Delmarva, while Bonine has either caught or served as DH.

Perhaps they’ll celebrate extensions one of these days. They’ve got to reach the majors. As Basallo proved, it doesn’t have to be for long.

“Just excited about the bat, excited about the possibilities defensively both behind the dish and at first base. Excited to get him in a game at first base here in the coming days,” Mansolino said of Basallo.

“He’s a really good player. He seems to fit in really well with this group of players that’s here. There’s a unique bond for a lot of that clubhouse because so many of them were developed through our player development system. We love veteran players. We’ve had a lot that were traded away here recently and we’d love to have more in the future, but for the rest of this season it’s a really young group in there right now, and it’s just a really easy way with players that you relate to age-wise and generationally, it’s easier to relate to those guys in a lot of ways. So just seeing Sammy kind of operate in that way has been really exciting.”

* Cade Povich allowed four earned runs and six total last night in 4 2/3 innings, and he struck out five batters. He fanned 10 in his previous appearance, also against the Astros, after replacing opener Rico Garcia.

That game marked the sixth time in club history that a pitcher recorded double-digit strikeouts in relief.

Arthur Rhodes was the most recent, doing it twice with 10 against the Athletics and Royals in 1995. Dave Vineyard and Harvey Haddix struck out 11 in 1964 and Hal Brown fanned 10 in 1955.

Povich set the relief strikeout record against the Astros.

* Beavers has reached base safely 13 times - six hits and seven walks - since debuting last weekend. He's set the franchise record for the most times through six career games.

Beavers tied Glenn Gulliver's record, set in 1982, for most walks in the first six games. 

* Jordan Westburg went on the injured list for the second time yesterday after appearing in only 107 games last season.

The lineup needs him.

Westburg’s .310 average since the All-Star break ranked seventh in the American League before last night, per STATS. His .251 average in the first half was 80^th.  The plus-.059 improvement ranked as the eighth largest among qualified hitters.