Samuel Basallo Blasts Ridiculous Home Run With Baltimore Orioles Triple-A Team

The Baltimore Orioles superstar prospect continues to turn heads down in the minors with his prolific power, something that was on full display with his latest home run.

Shorebirds' Samuel Basallo (21) swings in the game against the Cannon Ballers Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. The Shorebirds defeated the Cannon Ballers 7-2 / Lauren Roberts/Salisbury Daily Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Many of the Baltimore Orioles' top prospects in recent years have reached the Majors.

Led by Adley Rutschman in 2022, Gunnar Henderson followed him with a AL Rookie of the Year-winning campaign last season. In their rotation, Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez look to be the futures of their starting staff.

Jordan Westburg also put together an All-Star year, their superstar minor leaguer Jackson Holliday has stuck with the team and has graduated from prospect status during his second stint with the team, and Colton Cowser seems to be closing in on his own Rookie of the Year award.

All of that is to point out that many of the young players the Orioles have drafted or acquired in trades over the past few seasons have seemingly hit, giving them a huge window to compete for championships.

Perhaps the missing piece of the puzzle, though, is still in Triple-A.

20-year-old Samuel Basallo has burst onto the scene since signing with Baltimore as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2021.

He was considered the Orioles' 19th-best prospect in 2022 and their 12th in 2023, sitting outside of MLB Pipeline's top 100 during both of those years. But he shot up the boards this season into being currently named No. 2 in their pipeline and No. 10 in all of minor league baseball.

Basallo's rise is a direct reflection of his ability to hit, and in just his second year outside of rookie ball, he has already been promoted to Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate.

As the youngest player at that level, there are some questions if he can handle the pitching he will see going forward.

Well, so far, Basallo has quieted those concerns, evident by the massive moonshot he hit on Saturday.

Samuel Basallo: 455 ft, 109.6 mph ‼️

MLB's No. 10 prospect (@NorfolkTides) is the youngest player at Triple-A, with his 40 XBH across two levels ranking him third among all @Orioles Minor Leaguers. pic.twitter.com/SPP5Cs4koK

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 8, 2024

As the video suggests, the ball traveled a ridiculous 455 feet and had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph coming off his bat.

That is now the second home run Basallo has hit in the nine games he's been called up to Triple-A.

While there are clearly some adjustments he has to make with just seven hits in 39 at-bats to go along with 16 strikeouts, the power he possesses has translated.

Coming up as a catcher, some wonder what position he will play when he eventually reaches the Majors, considering Rutschman is the everyday player for the Orioles.

Because of that, Baltimore has started to give him more work at first base, something that could be a real area of need in the future when they feel like Basallo is ready for his MLB debut.

At just 20 years old, it seems like he is still a few seasons away, but with how he has performed at every step of the way, he could make it hard for the Orioles to keep him on the farm.