Samuel Basallo 2023

[Just Regular]

It seems the three biggest steps up the ladder are MLB, AA, and Level 1 of full season ball here, so Basallo's done about the best he can possibly do the first half of the season.    Delmarva for me is somewhat more about what Age of player do they put there.     Super young guy there, plus playing well...fantastic.    If the Orioles ever succeed at buying some Adley FA years, it'll be interesting to see if Basallo's development plan is affected.

Going into the year, my Best Case kind of hopes were Carlos Delgado-ish, and that he'd simply hit too much to waste the bat at catcher.

Basallo 8.13.2004 near midpoint of Year 1 in full season has a 292/352/472 four levels away from MLB in ~250 PA.

Delgado 6.25.1972 (Happy Birthday) when he was 18 in 1990 was 281/382/417 in ~275 Low-A plate appearances.    Across 1991-1995, he took almost 2500 more minor league PA before becoming a full-time big leaguer.

Obligatory rookies struggle spot check - Delgado had a 75 OPS+ in his first ~250 MLB PA.

I guess next year we'll see if Basallo can homer much in the Aberdeen cavern.    It is nice having a looking like a blue chip IFA - the age dynamics are just different even vs. US high school kids.    Basallo could spend a full season everywhere the next 3 years, and still be ready for his 129 at-bats at age 22.0.     

We talk about where Mayo might slot into next month's draft if he was kicking sand in Dylan Crews' face in the SEC, and same happy talk I think could apply to Basallo if he had just finished 12th grade.

Edited June 26, 2023 by Just Regular

[Sports Guy]

6 hours ago, Alasdaire said:

Basallo has an .860 OPS on the month as an 18-year-old catcher and this thread hasn't been bumped in over three weeks. We're spoiled.

I personally have moved him up as my 5th ranked prospect in the org.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Sports Guy

[One eyed Bird]

3 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

You should buy some Powerball tickets today. 

 

3 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

You should buy some Powerball tickets today. 

History is a great teacher for those willing to learn

[Alasdaire]

Ho-hum, Basallo goes 3/3 and and takes another three walks to gets on base SIX times today.

Basallo is arguably the most important prospect in the whole system. Not because he will single-handedly impact the O's more than any other prospect, but because of what he represents.

We're not going to have a big draft pool and high picks going forward. And we're not going to be selling off players who could net big returns. So in order to maintain a top-tier farm system, we'll likely need a pipeline of international signees.

Basallo is hopefully the first sign that the system the front office uses to scout domestic players could be adapted to find guys abroad. And I suspect there's a certain amount of momentum with these kids in terms of wanting to sign with franchises that have shown the ability to invest in and develop those who came before them.

Hopefully Basallo is at the vanguard of a steady stream of international talent that this franchise has sorely lacked forever. It might be the best way to assure sustained contention.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Alasdaire said:

Ho-hum, Basallo goes 3/3 and and takes another three walks to gets on base SIX times today.

Basallo is arguably the most important prospect in the whole system. Not because he will single-handedly impact the O's more than any other prospect, but because of what he represents.

We're not going to have a big draft pool and high picks going forward. And we're not going to be selling off players who could net big returns. So in order to maintain a top-tier farm system, we'll likely need a pipeline of international signees.

Basallo is hopefully the first sign that the system the front office uses to scout domestic players could be adapted to find guys abroad. And I suspect there's a certain amount of momentum with these kids in terms of wanting to sign with franchises that have shown the ability to invest in and develop those who came before them.

Hopefully Basallo is at the vanguard of a steady stream of international talent that this franchise has sorely lacked forever. It might be the best way to assure sustained contention.

And 2 stolen bases! What an absolute monster day for the kid. You have to wonder if they will at some point give him some Aberdeen time. I know they have Willems as the main guy there, but they co-existed already this year. 

Basallo is doing special things as an 18-year old in Delmarva. 

[CHIP]

12 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

And 2 stolen bases! What an absolute monster day for the kid. You have to wonder if they will at some point give him some Aberdeen time. I know they have Willems as the main guy there, but they co-existed already this year. 

Basallo is doing special things as an 18-year old in Delmarva. 

Basallo is definately showing some consistency, power and speed.  But what do you do with the 'other' catcher in Aberdeen.  Willems has been warmer the past 2 weeks going 14-46 in 12 games (.304).  Bringing his average up from .148 to .247 then the 'other' catch Ardoin during the same two week period went 6-46 (0.130) for the ENTIRE month of June in 16 games which included a 3-4 game on 6/10.  Dropping his average to 0.178 (.578 OPS).  

Ardoin was supposed to be the Orioles next Handley with a better bat.  He has caught 17-57 (30%) But Willems has also caught 8-27 (30%) in his time at A+ 

@Tony-OH you seem to have access to statistical breakdowns I don't (or won't payfor).  What is Creed's hitting stats in his 21 games for Aberdeen while catching  vs. DH + 1B (combined)?  I believe he has been split pretty equally.

Since Ardoin only caught 12 games in Delmarva in 2022 (.227 avg, .602 ops) is it time to move Ardoin down a level to work on the bat while Willems and Basallo work in Aberdeen? 

[LookinUp]

13 minutes ago, CHIP said:

...

Since Ardoin only caught 12 games in Delmarva in 2022 (.227 avg, .602 ops) is it time to move Ardoin down a level to work on the bat while Willems and Basallo work in Aberdeen? 

Not sure you're saying this, but they'll do what's best for Willems and Basallo on each's timeframe, regardless of anything Ardoin does.  

If I remember correctly, Ardoin did hit in college, but there were always questions of how that would translate. Seems like those questions are coming to fruition. I have to assume that they're making major mechanical changes on certain guys, and that Ardoin's one of them. Either that or he just won't ever hit much.

But re: Basallo, they'll move him when they see fit regardless of who's in his way. He's a top level guy. It's just a matter of when, unless he's no longer with us after the trade deadline.

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, CHIP said:

Basallo is definately showing some consistency, power and speed.  But what do you do with the 'other' catcher in Aberdeen.  Willems has been warmer the past 2 weeks going 14-46 in 12 games (.304).  Bringing his average up from .148 to .247 then the 'other' catch Ardoin during the same two week period went 6-46 (0.130) for the ENTIRE month of June in 16 games which included a 3-4 game on 6/10.  Dropping his average to 0.178 (.578 OPS).  

Ardoin was supposed to be the Orioles next Handley with a better bat.  He has caught 17-57 (30%) But Willems has also caught 8-27 (30%) in his time at A+ 

@Tony-OH you seem to have access to statistical breakdowns I don't (or won't payfor).  What is Creed's hitting stats in his 21 games for Aberdeen while catching  vs. DH + 1B (combined)?  I believe he has been split pretty equally.

Since Ardoin only caught 12 games in Delmarva in 2022 (.227 avg, .602 ops) is it time to move Ardoin down a level to work on the bat while Willems and Basallo work in Aberdeen? 

Everything I have is available free online. I don't have access to offensive splits for positions.

As for Ardoin, he is similar to Handley in that he's decent defensively but can't hit. I would have issues sending him back to Low-A because he's not getting the job done at High-A offensively. Ardoin's K rate is awful.

[CharmCityHokie]

5 hours ago, CHIP said:

 

@Tony-OH you seem to have access to statistical breakdowns I don't (or won't payfor).  What is Creed's hitting stats in his 21 games for Aberdeen while catching  vs. DH + 1B (combined)?  I believe he has been split pretty equally.

 

This info is free, you just have to dig a bit for it. BaseballReference has gamelogs which will show you position played and the outcome of ABs for every game. You will just have to do the math yourself or filter it to what you're looking for. Here is Creed Willems' gamelogs for this month: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=willem000cre&type=bgl 

The second to final column shows what position he played in that game. You can filter it by clicking on the title of the columns.

Edited June 26, 2023 by CharmCityHokie

[George Zuverink]

2 hours ago, CharmCityHokie said:

This info is free, you just have to dig a bit for it. BaseballReference has gamelogs which will show you position played and the outcome of ABs for every game. You will just have to do the math yourself or filter it to what you're looking for. Here is Creed Willems' gamelogs for this month: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=willem000cre&type=bgl 

The second to final column shows what position he played in that game. You can filter it by clicking on the title of the columns.

Ah, how the world has changed. I used to live for the Sunday Sun paper where they printed the AL and NL batting and pitching statistics as of a few days earlier. I spent hours pouring over them, trying, by hand, to figure out what each Oriole nd the team would have to do to move up a few spots.  If I had known at the time what an actuary is, I would have known I would become one.

[Tony-OH]

16 hours ago, CharmCityHokie said:

This info is free, you just have to dig a bit for it. BaseballReference has gamelogs which will show you position played and the outcome of ABs for every game. You will just have to do the math yourself or filter it to what you're looking for. Here is Creed Willems' gamelogs for this month: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=willem000cre&type=bgl 

The second to final column shows what position he played in that game. You can filter it by clicking on the title of the columns.

Yeah, I'm very familiar with game logs in baseball reference. Even if you are winning to "do the math", which I'm not by the way  , sometimes players change positions during games and you'd have to go into the game itself to see when he switched and that's a lot of work.

There is just no easy way to get that offensive specific breakdowns while playing certain positions. Saying that, feel free to do the math and give us the break downs! 

[e16bball]

23 hours ago, CHIP said:

What is Creed's hitting stats in his 21 games for Aberdeen while catching  vs. DH + 1B (combined)?  I believe he has been split pretty equally.

3 games at 1B: 4/13, 1 BB, 1 HR

6 games at DH: 7/20, 4 BBs, 2 HRs

Total: .333 / .421 / .606 / 1.027

 

12 games at C: 7/40, 6 BBs, 1 2B, 2 HRs

Total: .175 / .283 / .375 / .658

[deward]

59 minutes ago, e16bball said:

3 games at 1B: 4/13, 1 BB, 1 HR

6 games at DH: 7/20, 4 BBs, 2 HRs

Total: .333 / .421 / .606 / 1.027

 

12 games at C: 7/40, 6 BBs, 1 2B, 2 HRs

Total: .175 / .283 / .375 / .658

Speaking of guys who might hit too much to be stuck catching....

[e16bball]

57 minutes ago, deward said:

Speaking of guys who might hit too much to be stuck catching....

The one thing I’ll say, due to the minuscule sample size, is that it appears the difference in performance between the two is very heavily showing up in the batting average (specifically BABIP). 

There’s obviously a bit more power showing up in the 1B/DH games (.273 ISO compared to .200), but the walk rate is basically identical and the K rate is actually a good bit better in the C games. So it’d be awfully hard to say, based on this at least, that the act of catching is hurting his offensive output on the days he catches — which I think is what the original poster who asked for the numbers was driving at. 

That said, I think you’re looking a bit more at the overall picture, and you do have to wonder if both Willems/Basallo should be looked at for something resembling a 2016 Evan Gattis role — backup catcher who is a primary DH/1B option the 5 times a week he isn’t behind the dish.

[deward]

40 minutes ago, e16bball said:

The one thing I’ll say, due to the minuscule sample size, is that it appears the difference in performance between the two is very heavily showing up in the batting average (specifically BABIP). 

There’s obviously a bit more power showing up in the 1B/DH games (.273 ISO compared to .200), but the walk rate is basically identical and the K rate is actually a good bit better in the C games. So it’d be awfully hard to say, based on this at least, that the act of catching is hurting his offensive output on the days he catches — which I think is what the original poster who asked for the numbers was driving at. 

That said, I think you’re looking a bit more at the overall picture, and you do have to wonder if both Willems/Basallo should be looked at for something resembling a 2016 Evan Gattis role — backup catcher who is a primary DH/1B option the 5 times a week he isn’t behind the dish.

It's definitely too small a sample size to be drawing any conclusions from, just an interesting trend to follow.