Elite Baltimore Orioles Catching Prospect Could Make Debut This Year

The Baltimore Orioles have not gotten great seasons from their star players, and Adley Rutschman has been the biggest offender.

He slashed .227/.319/.369 with just seven home runs and 19 RBIs in his first 225 plate appearances. He's picked things up in June, as he has slashed .366/.438/.561 in June.

But with the Orioles well out of the race in the American League East Division, it could be too little, too late.

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Baltimore is likely to be a seller at the deadline, meaning there will be a lot of room for new, young players to contribute to the team.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter has an idea of one of those young players could be and included him in his "Predicting 10 Top MLB Prospects Who Will Debut Next in 2025 Season" article.

Samuel Basallo is the top-ranked prospect in the Orioles' farm system and No. 16-ranked prospect in the MiLB Top 100 Prospects list. He is the No. 2-ranked catching prospect, only behind Dalton Rushing of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is currently on their major league roster.

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Basallo, still just 20 years old at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, is slashing .264/.371/.588 with 14 home runs in Triple-A Norfolk. He has a 70-grade arm tool and a 60-grade power tool on the 20-80 scouting scale, pointing to his natural strength as a prospect.

"As recently as this past offseason, he looked like a potential trade chip for an Orioles team in need of reliable starting pitching, but a disappointing start to the year could shift focus back to developing in-house young talent," Reuter writes.

At the catcher position, his arm strength can help throw out baserunners, but his actual blocking and framing abilities are still a work in progress. But he might not have to stay there.

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It would be hard to push Rutschman to a full-time DH role anyway, with Baltimore so dependent on him for whatever competitive window it still has.

But Ryan O'Hearn has been taking up space at first base this season and is viewed as a likely trade chip for the July 31 trade deadline.

Basallo has played first base in addition to catcher at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. While that might not be as good of a use for his arm strength, it would make him easier to call up, so he doesn't have to be relied on defensively in a way he's not ready for.

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