Orioles call up Samuel Basallo: 21-year-old catcher lands in big leagues with six weeks left in MLB season
Basallo hit 23 homers in 76 games in Triple-A this season

The Baltimore Orioles announced a series of roster moves Sunday morning and the headliner was the promotion of catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo to the majors.
Basallo, 21, is a former international signee out of the Dominican Republic and is a consensus top-15 prospect in the majors at this point. CBS Sports prospect expert R.J. Anderson ranked Basallo ninth overall in his midseason rankings this year, saying the following:
Basallo is a big, strong left-handed hitter who has recorded an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher on nearly 60% of his batted balls to date. The question remains: where does he play at the next level? The Orioles have continued to catch him a fair amount in Triple-A, but one would assume that the answer entails him splitting time behind the plate and either at first base or designated hitter. Either way, the draw here is his bat.
Through 76 games in Triple-A this season, Basallo is hitting .270/.377/.589 with 17 doubles, 23 home runs and 67 RBI. He's started 33 games at catcher, 20 at first base and 20 at designated hitter.
The Orioles obviously have a strong primary catcher in All-Star Adley Rutschman, but there would still be one or two days a week available for a backup catcher. Coby Mayo has been playing first base with Ryan Mountcastle at DH.
Big League Basallo pic.twitter.com/nK4hghMebx
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 17, 2025
It'll be interesting to see exactly how the Orioles deploy Basallo the rest of the season, but given that they are a non-contender (10 games out of playoff spot entering Sunday), they'll have the chance to rotate him around and get him comfortable to the big leagues in the lineup, at first base and behind the plate.
Something of note here: Saturday marked 44 days until the end of the regular season. That means Basallo likely won't exceed the 45-day service time rookie threshold and will still be rookie-eligible next year (as long as he does not exceed 130 at-bats or 50 innings) and retain prospect-promotion incentive draft pick eligibility.