Baltimore Orioles Don’t Promote Superstar Prospect After Gary Sanchez Injury

The Baltimore Orioles’ woeful catching depth still isn’t enough to get them to promote top prospect Samuel Basallo for his MLB debut.

Per the Baltimore Sun on X (formerly Twitter) and other outlets, the Orioles placed catcher David Bañuelos on their medical taxi squad on Sunday, ahead of their game with the Atlanta Braves.

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Baltimore did so after Gary Sanchez suffered a knee injury and left the game. He had an MRI on Saturday, but the Orioles have not disclosed the results.

Bañuelos moving to the taxi squad means there’s a chance Baltimore believes Sanchez might not be available beyond Sunday. Gary Stallings was in the starting lineup for the O’s on Sunday.

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Stallings enters Sunday’s game with a .144 batting average.

Basallo is at Triple-A Norfolk and is the organization’s No. 1 prospect. He can play catcher and first base. With Norfolk, the 20-year-old is slashing .253/.372/.547 with 16 home runs and 38 RBI.

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Speculation about Basallo spiked after he was held out of Saturday’s game for Norfolk, even though he was held out of the lineup before Sanchez suffered his injury.

Baltimore is banged up at catcher, where three options are on the injured list, including starter Adley Rutschman with an oblique injury. Chadwick Tromp has a back injury and Maverick Handley is on the list with a concussion.

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Promoting Basallo now would require not only a 26-man roster move but a 40-man roster move since he hasn’t made his MLB debut. Baltimore may need to move him to the 40-man in the offseason as the former international signee has played five minor league seasons and will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

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