Samuel Basallo 2023

[RZNJ]

34 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I wouldn't agree with that. I do think it's likely he will need to move to 1B at some point. He's a huge young man that is going to fill out and be an even huger young man. It's not his arm and he's very limber for his size, but I just can't see a a 6-4 (He looks bigger than 6-3 to me), 230 or 240 pound catcher. That a lot of size and weight to bend down all the time. 

If the bat is as special as it looks like it could be, I think he'll end up at 1B. 

To me, Willems has the better chance to stick at catcher.

Sean Murphy is a big dude.  Baseball ref has him listed at 6’3 and 228 and he looks every bit of it if not more on TV.   You might be right but he has so much value at catcher I believe his ML career will at least start there.

[Gurgi]

Matt Wieters was six foot five inches.  So the Orioles have had giant catchers before.  So maybe Basallo will stick.

[emmett16]

37 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I wouldn't agree with that. I do think it's likely he will need to move to 1B at some point. He's a huge young man that is going to fill out and be an even huger young man. It's not his arm and he's very limber for his size, but I just can't see a a 6-4 (He looks bigger than 6-3 to me), 230 or 240 pound catcher. That a lot of size and weight to bend down all the time. 

If the bat is as special as it looks like it could be, I think he'll end up at 1B. 

To me, Willems has the better chance to stick at catcher.

Salvador Perez comes to mind.  He’s listed 6’3” 255.  Your point that he isn’t done growing is true and we will see how that plays out.  I think the larger point is his offensive potential.  If it is elite level then he’s be best served at another position.  Good problems to have.  Can’t wait to see how it plays out. 
 

Watching Delmarva games is kinda hilarious when he is behind the plate.  All these young tiny dudes look like midgets in the box when he stands up to throw the ball back to the pitcher.   

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Sean Murphy is a big dude.  Baseball ref has him listed at 6’3 and 228 and he looks every bit of it if not more on TV.   You might be right but he has so much value at catcher I believe his ML career will at least start there.

Potentially. I'm not saying he can't stay at catcher with all certainty, but to protect the bat and his knees, I think they will eventually move him. 

So I guess at the end of the day, depends on you definition of likely. I think he's much bigger already then his listed height and weight in BB Ref. He's certainly much heavier than 180 and he's only 18-years old. He'll also built like a guy who is just going to end up a very big guy. 

Now the arm is strong and he moves well enough right now behind the plate that it's not going to happen anytime soon, but even if he starts his career as a catcher at the major league level, I'm guessing it won't be long before he is gradually moved to 1B.

Jonah Heim was 6-4 but rail thin at 18-years old. Basallo has a thicker chest and waist from what I've seen on his game footage and that typical ends up filling out into a heavier guy. 

Now I haven't seen him up close with no shirt on so I'm judging a bit by him in uniform, but I see a kid who going to be very big. But, Basallo is a pretty unique athlete in that he's very flexible so maybe he will buck the odds and continue to catch in his career. 

I certainly would never say never.

He'll be an interesting case to follow.

[Tony-OH]

5 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Salvador Perez comes to mind.  He’s listed 6’3” 255.  Your point that he isn’t done growing is true and we will see how that plays out.  I think the larger point is his offensive potential.  If it is elite level then he’s be best served at another position.  Good problems to have.  Can’t wait to see how it plays out. 
 

Watching Delmarva games is kinda hilarious when he is behind the plate.  All these young tiny dudes look like midgets in the box when he stands up to throw the ball back to the pitcher.   

Perez is probably a good comp size wise for him eventually so that is a good example of a guy that big who has continued to catch at the big league level deep into his career. 

He does tower over some Caroline League batters and umpires for sure which makes me think he's taller than his listed 6-3. I think Felix Bautista was still listed at 6-3, 180 when he was in Frederick starting to get attention. I remember going to look at video after looking at his numbers and was like, who the hell is this guy? No way that guy was anywhere close to his listed height and weight at the time.

Either way, I haven't noticed anything he does poorly behind the plate though he needs to continue to develop in receiving and blocking a bit.

[CHIP]

3 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Perez is probably a good comp size wise for him eventually so that is a good example of a guy that big who has continued to catch at the big league level deep into his career. 

 

I think a potential comp to what others have said about starting behind the dish and moving, along with his size considerations and unknowns, is Joe Mauer of the Twins.

Started for Twins at 6-5, 225# at the age of 21 and at age of 27 he was 6-5 235# when he made his move to 1B with a massive contract and massive increase in power production.  The contract was for the bat over the catching defense.

[Just Regular]

I feel like we talked some of this in 2019 with Adley, and the question what if this Bat is just so good it'd be a shame not to see it take 10000 PA?

Except Basallo has that Age 16 affiliating youth, and will have grown man Adley Rutschman as a teammate.    What if with all these good vibes Adley is the one the Club succeeds at procuring FA seasons.

[Chaka Garcia]

Adley is an allstar, but like Weiters and other catchers, they don’t age well. I actually don’t mind waiting on what we have with Samuel or Willems.

[Greg Pappas]

 

[Frobby]

At first I read that Tweet and thought it said Basallo was going to Aberdeen “at just 1B.”   I was wondering why they were abandoning him being a catcher.  Then I realized it said “18,” not “1B.”

[Tony-OH]

With this promotion, barring any new promotions from another team of a younger player than Basallo, he now becomes the youngest player in the Sally League at 18 ys and 352 days.

 

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

With this promotion, barring any new promotions from another team of a younger player than Basallo, he now becomes the youngest player in the Sally League at 18 ys and 352 days.

 

Every at bat he had at Delmarva was against a pitcher older than he was, so that’s unlikely to change now that he’s at Aberdeen.  

[clapdiddy]

Love this promotion.   

[RZNJ]

Ardoin gets promoted to Bowie but Beavers and his .818 OPS stays?   Interesting.   Ardoin turned his season around over the last month but this is still a surprise and super aggressive promotion for him.   Gotta think this is more about Basallo than Ardoin.   Maybe Mordan gets the promo to Delmarva from FCL.

[CharmCityHokie]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Ardoin gets promoted to Bowie but Beavers and his .818 OPS stays?   Interesting.   Ardoin turned his season around over the last month but this is still a surprise and super aggressive promotion for him.   Gotta think this is more about Basallo than Ardoin.   Maybe Mordan gets the promo to Delmarva from FCL.

I was thinking that Ardoin has now been moved into the organizational catcher category as opposed to a prospect, where they use him to fill needs between teams as opposed to worrying about any real prospect development.