Samuel Basallo 2024

[sportsfan8703]

Also, Is Sam Basallo the #1 prospect in all of baseball?  I asked this in another thread and I'd only maybe have James Wood/Junior Camienero over him.  Maybe just James Wood.  

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

At what point does the debate get to... Which prospect is a better fit on the MLB roster between Basallo, Mayo, and Holliday?  Basallo might have the best MLB ready bat...

In what world is Basallo’s bat the most ready?  Holliday and Mayo both had better numbers in AA and have hundreds of at bats in AAA that Basallo hasn’t had.

[EdwinRip]

31 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

At what point does the debate get to... Which prospect is a better fit on the MLB roster between Basallo, Mayo, and Holliday?  Basallo might have the best MLB ready bat...

I don’t see how Basallo’s bat today is ahead of the other 2….they are both putting up better numbers at AAA.

[sportsfan8703]

19 hours ago, Frobby said:

In what world is Basallo’s bat the most ready?  Holliday and Mayo both had better numbers in AA and have hundreds of at bats in AAA that Basallo hasn’t had.

Holliday and Mayo have some big swing and miss in their games.  Basallo as a RC+ in AA at 19 that names like Acuna/Soto/Holliday have had.  Basallo has the big boy power to not get challenged like Holliday did at the MLB level.  That's never going to change, so Holliday has that as a ceiling.  

As far as being a better prospect... you have to factor in positional value.  Holliday is currently a 2B.  Mayo is currently a 3B, but is his defense good enough to crack our lineup?  

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Holliday and Mayo have some big swing and miss in their games.  Basallo as a RC+ in AA at 19 that names like Acuna/Soto/Holliday have had.  Basallo has the big boy power to not get challenged like Holliday did at the MLB level.  That's never going to change, so Holliday has that as a ceiling.  

As far as being a better prospect... you have to factor in positional value.  Holliday is currently a 2B.  Mayo is currently a 3B, but is his defense good enough to crack our lineup?  

I’m not really addressing who’s the betree prospect, just who’s more ready to hit major league pitching.   I think you have to go with both Mayo and Holliday over Basallo.

As to positional value, see my comments about Badallo’s defense from a page or two back.  

[Tony-OH]

On 6/25/2024 at 8:40 PM, Sports Guy said:

Yordan Alvarez 

Good comp, so is Carlos Delgado for us old school guys.

[sportsfan8703]

48 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m not really addressing who’s the betree prospect, just who’s more ready to hit major league pitching.   I think you have to go with both Mayo and Holliday over Basallo.

As to positional value, see my comments about Badallo’s defense from a page or two back.  

I hear you.  I respect your opinion.  I just differ here.  I think Basallo has a combo of power, less Ks, that Mayo and Holliday don't have currently.  They're all great.  Which is why I say we might have 3 of the top 5.  I just think Basallo is the better one.  He's that dude as the kid say.  

[Tony-OH]

On 6/26/2024 at 1:36 PM, Frobby said:

I do have questions about Basallo’s progress as a catcher.   By my calculations, the Baysox have allowed 5.68 runs/game when Basallo has caught (25 games), 4.11 runs/game when others have caught.  We know that stats like CERA have a lot of noise in them, especially in a small sample, but 1.57 runs/game is a huge margin.  He’s also committed 4 errors and 4 passed balls in 25 games at C, and has caught only 22% of runners (8/36).   By comparison, Silas Ardoin has started 31 games at C and has only 2 errors and 2 PB, and has caught 40% of runners (16/40).   

These are all superficial numbers, but they raise questions in my mind and I’d need someone who watches Basallo a lot and knows how to evaluate catchers to tell me how he rates behind the dish.  
 

Ardoin is basically 4-years old than Basallo and his calling card is his defense. so yes, I believe Ardoin is ahead of Basallo defensively.

I've seen nothing from Basallo behind the plate that suggests he can't play there at the major league level, especially in some kind of timeshare split that allows both he and Adley to have rest DHing. It really could be unheard of. Imagine having two of these guys in the lineup, one catching and the other DHing. Basallo is also improving at 1B where he's very limber and I could see him easily becoming a Mountcastle level defensive first baseman but with a plus-plus arm if they go that route.

Either way, he very easily could be ready to be in a major league lineup by next year full-time. He's already cutting his K's down significantly of late. Once he's able to tap into that plus-plus power while keeping the whiff down, watch out. 

 

 

 

[Just Regular]

The weekly mystery mid-game exit has occurred.

[EdwinRip]

Lower body contusion.

[Frobby]

7 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Ardoin is basically 4-years old than Basallo and his calling card is his defense. so yes, I believe Ardoin is ahead of Basallo defensively.

I've seen nothing from Basallo behind the plate that suggests he can't play there at the major league level, especially in some kind of timeshare split that allows both he and Adley to have rest DHing. It really could be unheard of. Imagine having two of these guys in the lineup, one catching and the other DHing. Basallo is also improving at 1B where he's very limber and I could see him easily becoming a Mountcastle level defensive first baseman but with a plus-plus arm if they go that route.

Either way, he very easily could be ready to be in a major league lineup by next year full-time. He's already cutting his K's down significantly of late. Once he's able to tap into that plus-plus power while keeping the whiff down, watch out. 

 

 

 

Thanks, Tony.  I did know, of course, that Ardoin is older and more experienced than Basallo.   I just wanted to give some context using Bowie's other starting catcher.   As a "box score follower" of our prospects, the hardest thing is to get useful evaluations of defense, especially for a position like catcher.   So, I appreciate your evaluation.

[CHIP]

1 hour ago, EdwinRip said:

Lower body contusion.

Went to see what happened… let’s just say the announcers were idiots for thinking it his his forearm.  That was a full on nut buster and he is going to need a big ol’ bag of frozen pees.  On the serious side it looked like a shot that could cause so real damage.  Can’t blame him for sitting and maybe even getting a day or two off for that one.

[Cuellar35]

I just dream of the day our two catchers at the major league level are Adley and Basallo.  Heck, they could practically split the season at C to keep them truly fresh, while DHing on the days they are not behind the plate.  Besides the power what truly intrigues me with Samuel is his speed.  I never saw 7 SBs for him at this point of the season.  Elias has two great athletes in Adley and Sammy.

[now]

22 minutes ago, Cuellar35 said:

I just dream of the day our two catchers at the major league level are Adley and Basallo.  Heck, they could practically split the season at C to keep them truly fresh, while DHing on the days they are not behind the plate.  Besides the power what truly intrigues me with Samuel is his speed.  I never saw 7 SBs for him at this point of the season.  Elias has two great athletes in Adley and Sammy.

Right on. Add to those bashers, Mayo and Kjerstad as regulars. Good times ahead. Hasta manana!

[Tony-OH]

11 hours ago, CHIP said:

Went to see what happened… let’s just say the announcers were idiots for thinking it his his forearm.  That was a full on nut buster and he is going to need a big ol’ bag of frozen pees.  On the serious side it looked like a shot that could cause so real damage.  Can’t blame him for sitting and maybe even getting a day or two off for that one.

These kinds of things are why the Orioles may value his bat so much they end up converting him over to first base, even though he can catch just fine. Those kinds of "bumps and bruises" are why Adley is Dhing so much. 

I don't have Basallo's numbers catching vs playing 1B/DHing, but Adley's are significantly better when he's Dhing vs catching. So you have to wonder if the bat is an impact as it seems, do they ultimately make that change or do they think with a time share with Adley both will be fine? 

Interesting options for the team.