Minor League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles Prospect Samuel Basallo Won't Play Catcher to Start Season

Samuel Basallo, the No. 1 catching prospect in baseball, will exclusively suit up at designated hitter for the Baltimore Orioles' Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk while he manages elbow inflammation.

Sam Connon

Sarasota, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (72) poses for photo during media day at Ed Smith Stadium.
Sarasota, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (72) poses for photo during media day at Ed Smith Stadium. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
In this story:

Baltimore Orioles top prospect Samuel Basallo is dealing with right elbow inflammation, general manager Mike Elias told reporters Sunday.

Basallo was reassigned to minor league spring training camp last week, so he wasn't going to start the regular season on the MLB roster regardless of his injury status. Now, the 20-year-old catcher will exclusively play designated hitter for at least the first few weeks of the minor league season.

MLB Pipeline has Basallo ranked as the No. 13 prospect in baseball, 17 spots above the next-highest catcher. He tops the Orioles' farm system as well, coming in just above infielder Coby Mayo.

Before he got sent down, Basallo was batting .226 with a .770 OPS in Grapefruit League play. He went 0-for-3 in the Orioles' Spring Breakout game against the New York Yankees last weekend.

Basallo is a .286 hitter with 50 home runs, 64 doubles, 202 RBIs,24 stolen bases and an .841 OPS through 325 career minor league games.

Veteran free agent addition Gary Sánchez is set to back up All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman this season, complicating Basallo's path to the big leagues. It remains to be seen how Basallo performs as a designated hitter in the early days of the 2025 season, and how desperately the Orioles will want his bat on the big league roster once he returns to full strength.

Related MiLB Stories

  • WILLIAMS, SIMPSON SENT DOWN: Rather than keeping them around in big league camp through final cuts, the Rays demoted top prospects Carson Williams and Chandler Simpson on Wednesday. CLICK HERE
  • CAMPBELL EYING ROSTER SPOT: Top prospect Kristian Campbell could open 2025 as the Boston Red Sox's starting second baseman with Vaughn Grissom out of the picture. CLICK HERE
  • TIGERS OPTION JUNG: Instead opening the regular season as the Detroit Tigers' starting third baseman, top prospect Jace Jung will instead return to the minors. CLICK HERE

Follow MiLB On SI on social media

Continue to follow our Minor League Baseball On SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook.

You can also follow Sam Connon on Twitter @SamConnon.

Published |Modified
Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

Home/INJURIES