Basallo injury

[Sports Guy]

 

[Tony-OH]

Seems like some extra catching reps just became available in Bowie at least through April. I don't think it's anything that should affect his hitting though.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Sounds like throwing was the only part of his defensive game he didn’t need as much work on anyway. Hopefully he can continue to do development work on blocking balls and receiving even while not catching in games.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Sounds like throwing was the only part of his defensive game he didn’t need as much work on anyway. Hopefully he can continue to do development work on blocking balls and receiving even while not catching in games.

That seems really hard to do.  

[Jim'sKid26]

Does he suddenly become a 1B prospect moving forward. Apparently the bat plays higher than the catching skills. Overall value goes down if he moves off C but he might make the MLB faster as a bat first prospect. If his raw power translates into a 30 HR 1B who can otherwise rake, does he shelve the Tools of Ignorance?

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

Does he suddenly become a 1B prospect moving forward. Apparently the bat plays higher than the catching skills. Overall value goes down if he moves off C but he might make the MLB faster as a bat first prospect. If his raw power translates into a 30 HR 1B who can otherwise rake, does he shelve the Tools of Ignorance?

No and no.  He’ll continue to catch and play 1B.  His catch and throw are just fine.  Needs work framing and blocking.   He’s 19 and he wants to get better.  That’s half the battle.

[CaptainRedbeard]

On 2/16/2024 at 9:27 AM, Frobby said:

That seems really hard to do.  

He can still do whatever drills, flexibility, conditioning, etc. that go into developing those skills. He just can’t catch in games. Maybe at this point it’s only with live fire in games that he’ll improve, but I don’t know. 

I’m less concerned with the framing, anyway, since it seems inevitable that we’ll ultimately have at least some kind of partial automated system. But he needs to be able to block balls in the dirt at an acceptable level, hopefully this injury doesn’t slow down his development in that respect too much. 

[sportsfan8703]

Obviously we want him catching full time, but maybe we take it slow with him behind the dish this year, then that helps keep him fresh to rake at the plate. It could be a blessing. He could be the extra position player we add in September with the capability of being an emergency catcher. 

Edited February 20 by sportsfan8703

[IPlayGM]

Yes in ranking all the injuries shared over this past week, this one is easily the least concerning for me. Give him time to heal, keep working on the catching drills, and all will be forgotten in two months.

[Can_of_corn]

4 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Obviously we want him catching full time, but maybe we take it slow with him behind the dish this year, then that helps keep him fresh to rake at the plate. It could be a blessing. He could be the extra position player we add in September with the capability of being an emergency catcher. 

His bat is ahead of his glove.  You don't fix that by limiting the time he spends on defense.  He needs to catch as much as is deemed safe.

[MurphDogg]

Someone asked Keith Law about Basallo in his chat today, and I thought his answer merited mention here.

DH

1:52

Suppose Samuel Basallo were a solid average defensive 1B, and not a catcher. Where do you suppose he'd rank in top 100?

 

Keith Law

1:52

Middle, probably 40-60 range.

A #50-ish prospect at first base is still pretty good darn good!

Edited February 20 by MurphDogg

[Say O!]

11 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Someone asked Keith Law about Basallo in his chat today, and I thought his answer merited mention here.

DH

1:52

Suppose Samuel Basallo were a solid average defensive 1B, and not a catcher. Where do you suppose he'd rank in top 100?

 

Keith Law

1:52

Middle, probably 40-60 range.

A #50-ish prospect at first base is still pretty good darn good!

To me, Law indexes more heavily toward up the middle positions (and defensive capability there) than others in prospect ranking industry.  

[CHIP]

Basallo is a big guy.  Eric_Birdland put a video of a drill at home plate out a couple days ago.  Guessing on the new guys... but by size I would say the order goes, Handley, Banuelos, Silas, McCann, Rutschman, Perez, and Basallo.  At one point Basallo passes Handley who I think is 5'-9"ish 205.  

Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber were both Catchers before being converted to OF/1B to get their bats in the game.  Basallo moves well... that is for sure.  Really big hands so not sure how that helps/hurts with transfers on throw downs.  

Here is the video from Eric: Bottom right twitter post

 

Edited February 20 by CHIP
correct link

[Sports Guy]

 

[IPlayGM]

Didn’t I see/read somewhere that this injury happened in November? If so, at 19 he should be healed up nicely by now one would think.