O's top 50 prospect Samuel Basallo talks about his fantastic 2023 season

ABERDEEN, Md. – As he put the finishing touches on a fantastic late-year run with High-A Aberdeen in recent days, young O’s international catcher Samuel Basallo got on a home run tear.

He hit six homers his last seven games (going 14-for-26) including a walk-off homer on Thursday night as the IronBirds beat Greenville 6-5 at Ripken Stadium. It was a line shot to right field.

“Incredible. That was my first walk-off homer in my time in pro baseball. It felt incredible. Always dreamed of doing that one day,” said Basallo, with interpreting help from Aberdeen manager Roberto Mercado.

This young man, who turned 19 Aug. 13, from the Dominican Republic has now become a top 50 prospect nationally, one of the O’s best on the farm and a shining star for Baltimore’s international program.

Signed for the top international bonus handed out by the club in January of 2021, $1.3 million, Basallo (pronounced Ba-sigh-O) started this year with Low Single-A Delmarva and posted an .887 OPS in 83 games. That was a strong showing. Then he moved up to Aberdeen and his stats got better.

But it didn’t start out well at Aberdeen. Basallo went 2-for-26 (.077) his first seven games for the IronBirds.

“That first week was tough,” he recalled this past weekend at Ripken Stadium. “Tried to stay calm. That was the first time I actually struggled. But things did start to turn for me. The biggest thing was adjusting to this level. Been seeing a lot more off-speed pitches, so I had to work on staying in the zone and making sure I got good pitches to hit.”

Since the initial Aberdeen struggles, he has hit a sizzling .429 his past 20 games. This is a player red-hot at bat and showing off his plus power potential big time. He can hit the ball out to all fields and produces some of the loudest exit velocities on the Baltimore farm.

Basallo began this year ranked as the club’s No. 15 prospect by Baseball America and No. 12 via MLBPipeline.com. He had a goal to get into the top five and he will end this year ranked No. 5 by both and ranked No. 46 in the top 100 by both.

“Thank God for the opportunity to have the talent I have. I have worked really hard for that and will continue to work hard every single day,” he said.

Hard work seems to come naturally for Basallo, a player described as very, very driven to be good by those around him.

“He wants to be the best,” Mercado said. “He puts a lot of pressure on himself sometimes and may not realize he’s a special player. Sometimes you have to bring him in and say, ‘Look at these numbers. Look at what you are doing.’ This is not normal, this is special. He has only been with us for five weeks and has improved immensely.”

I asked Basallo in what area he improved the most this year.

“The biggest thing is my mentality has grown huge from spring to now. Staying focused, staying positive. Not worrying if something bad happens. Control my emotions.

“I get that (a strong drive to be good) from family. You try to get better every single day to be the best player I can," he said.

And he embraces being called the shining star of the O’s international program.

“Blessed to be a guy coming up here and doing well. There is a lot of talent in the Dominican Republic. The organization is the best at developing guys and pushing us and getting us to be the best we can be.

“The organization as a whole and our staff, they remind us to trust the process and keep working every single day. The coaches help me out and they really care about our futures. It is not always just about the now but getting us ready to one day play in Camden Yards.”

If you want to look at Basallo’s great 2023 in another way, you can compare his numbers favorably with the stats for Jackson Holliday, the O’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 1 prospect in the sport.

Holliday has a .948 OPS this year in 113 games with 47 extra-base hits and 68 RBIs. Basallo has a .945 OPS in 110 games with 51 extra-base hits and 84 RBIs.

The two 19-year-old phenoms played together at both Delmarva and Aberdeen.

“He is an awesome teammate. We like to push each other,” Basallo said of Holliday. “You know he will go 100 percent each time. Great guy to be in the clubhouse with and great guy just to talk with.”

Basallo said he was not sure if he would be playing any games over the winter or any winter ball in the Dominican, but he has a plan in mind for the upcoming offseason.

“The biggest thing is just to continue to get stronger, stay in good shape and keep working on my defense. Doing all I can to keep improving and try to be a great player.”

Basallo is listed at 6-foot-3, 180 and 6-foot-4, 220 may be more accurate. He is a big catcher and could outgrow the position. But he wants to stay behind the plate. MLBPipeline.com graded his arm a 60 and fielding at 45. Baseball America went 60 and 50 with the defensive grades.

This season he played 66 games at catcher and 27 at first base.

“I want to stay at catcher. It motivates me to hear people say I can’t stay as a catcher. Want to prove them wrong," he said.

He's moving up: Aberdeen played its final regular season game Sunday and Basallo went 2-for-4. After the game he found out he is heading to Double-A Bowie for the final week of the Double-A regular season. Basallo and pitcher Seth Johnson are moving from Aberdeen to Bowie, moves first reported by the Baltimore Banner.

So, Basallo will get in a few more games and move to the Double-A level at age 19. Bowie is three games out of the playoffs with six to play, so there is an outside chance the Baysox make the postseason.

Since 2012, just four O's minor league players have reached Bowie at age 19. Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy did that in 2012 and Basallo and Jackson Holliday (who has since moved to Triple-A) did that this season.

Aberdeen beat Greensville 4-3 Sunday, winning on a walk-off wild pitch in its final game. The IronBirds went 34-31 in the second half and 66-63 for the season.

Low Single-A Delmarva, in its Sunday finale, lost 3-1 to Fredericksburg. The Shorebirds went 28-37 in the second half and 56-74 on the season.