Basallo (pectoral) is starting behind the plate and batting fifth Sunday against the Blue Jays, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
The 21-year-old tweaked his pectoral late in Saturday's contest, but he's still in the starting nine for Sunday's series finale. It's especially encouraging that Basallo is working behind the plate rather than simply serving as the designated hitter. He's homered four times in his past 12 contests and has a .925 OPS with eight RBI and six runs during that span.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Sitting again versus lefty
Rotowire
Basallo is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.
Taylor Ward is getting a day at designated hitter and Blaze Alexander will play left field against Blue Jays southpaw Patrick Corbin. It's the second straight day Basallo has been out of the lineup and fourth consecutive game against a lefty that he has not started.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Belts eighth homer
Rotowire
Basallo went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 6-1 win over the Rays.
The 21-year-old slugger took Trevor Martin deep in the fifth inning for the game's final burst of offense. Three of Basallo's eight long balls on the season have come in his last nine games, but he's still having trouble making consistent contact, batting .214 (6-for-28) during that stretch with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Sitting out versus left-hander
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for Monday's game versus the Rays.
The left-handed-hitting Basallo will get a break as the Rays send southpaw Shane McClanahan to the bump. Adley Rutschman will do the catching, Gunnar Henderson is getting a start at designated hitter and Blaze Alexander will slide into the lineup at shortstop for the Orioles on Monday.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Resting for early game
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for the first game of Sunday's doubleheader versus the Tigers, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
With southpaw Framber Valdez taking the hill for the Tigers in the first game of the twin bill, Basallo will be given a breather while Baltimore goes with Adley Rutschman behind the plate and Taylor Ward at designated hitter. Basallo will most likely handle catching duties for the Orioles in the nightcap.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Not playing regularly vs. lefties
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.
Though Orioles manager Craig Albernaz told Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun a week ago that the left-handed-hitting Basallo had "earned the right" to face southpaws, the 21-year-old will end up being excluded from the lineup for the third time in four matchups with lefty starters since Albernaz made that comment. Adley Rutschman will start behind the plate, Coby Mayo will cover first base and Pete Alonso will serve as Baltimore's designated hitter Monday while southpaw Shane McClanahan takes the hill for Tampa Bay.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Good to go Tuesday
Rotowire
Basallo (knee) is batting fifth as the designated hitter Tuesday against the Yankees, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
Basallo was scratched from the lineup Monday due to left knee discomfort, but he'll return to action Tuesday after missing just one game. The 21-year-old has carried a hot bat through 10 games in May with four doubles, a triple, six RBI, four runs and a .928 OPS.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Scratched with knee injury
Rotowire
Basallo was scratched from Monday's lineup against the Yankees due to left knee discomfort, Andy Kostka of TheBanner.com reports.
Basallo picked up the injury from a collision at home plate during the seventh inning of Sunday's game against the Athletics, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. The Orioles should have an update on the 21-year-old's status once he undergoes more tests on his left knee. Coby Mayo will serve as Baltimore's designated hitter and bat sixth in Monday's series opener.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Powers offense in wild win
Rotowire
Basallo went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a run scored and four RBI in Tuesday's 9-7 win over the Marlins.
The 21-year-old rapped an RBI double in the first inning, a two-run single in the third and an RBI triple in the fifth as part of an impressive offensive eruption by the O's. Basallo has four multi-hit performances in his last 10 games, batting a blistering .395 (15-for-38) over that stretch with seven of his 15 hits going for extra bases (four doubles, a triple and two homers), along with four runs and eight RBI.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Out against lefty again
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
The left-handed hitter will hit the bench against a second straight southpaw in Max Fried. Adley Rutschman will draw the start at catcher while Pete Alonso serves as Baltimore's designated hitter in Basallo's absence.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Resting for early game
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for the first game of the Orioles' doubleheader with the Astros.
Adley Rutschman will handle catching duties for the first game of the twin bill, but Basallo will presumably draw the start behind the plate for the nightcap. After producing four extra-base hits (two home runs, two doubles) over his last four games, Basallo has raised his season OPS nearly 200 points.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Homers again Sunday
Rotowire
Basallo went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Red Sox.
Basallo, who started at catcher Sunday due to Adley Rutschman serving as the DH, got the Orioles on the board in the fifth inning with a 392-foot blast off Connelly Early, Basallo's fifth homer of the season and first against a left-handed pitcher. The 21-year-old has now homered in back-to-back starts while going 6-for-9 in that span. He's boosted his slash line to .233/.325/.452 with eight RBI and 10 runs scored through his first 83 plate appearances this season.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Getting breather Sunday
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.
Basallo started eight of the previous nine games but will hit the bench Sunday while in the midst of a 4-for-38 slump (.105 average). Sam Huff will take over behind the plate and bat eighth for the series finale at Cleveland.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Receiving afternoon off
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.
The Orioles are facing a left-handed starter (Eduardo Rodriguez) and are wrapping up their series with a day game after a night game, so the left-handed-hitting Basallo will get a breather following a stretch of five straight starts. Sam Huff will draw the start at catcher in his Orioles debut after being called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier Wednesday.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Sitting after four-strikeout game
Rotowire
Basallo is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the White Sox.
After an 0-for-4, four-strikeout performance in Sunday's 8-2 loss to the Pirates dropped his season average to .148, Basallo will get Monday off to clear his head. Adley Rutschman will draw the start at catcher and Ryan Mountcastle will serve as the Orioles' designated hitter in the series opener in Chicago.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Idle Saturday
Rotowire
Basallo isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Pittsburgh.
Basallo will get a day off to regroup after going just 4-for-23 (.174) through his first six games. His absence will put Taylor Ward in the DH spot while Dylan Beavers, Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser form Baltimore's outfield trio.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Launches first homer of season
Rotowire
Basallo went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Rangers.
The 21-year-old slugger helped chase Nathan Eovaldi from the game when he led off the fifth inning by launching a fastball 437 feet over the wall in center field. It was Basallo's first homer and first RBI of the season in his fifth game, and he's batting .211 (4-for-19) in the early going with a 2:6 BB:K.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Taking seat Monday
Rotowire
Basallo is not in the starting lineup for Monday's game against the Rangers, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.
Basallo started each of the Orioles' three games against the Twins in the opening series, going 2-for-10 at the plate with a 2:4 BB:K. With Basallo getting the night off from the starting nine, Dylan Beavers will make the start in right field and bat sixth, while Tyler O'Neill hits fifth as the designated hitter.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Blasts HR, drives in five Friday
Rotowire
Basallo went 2-for-4 with one home run, five RBI and two runs scored in Friday's Grapefruit League loss to the Phillies.
Basallo missed a couple days with an abdominal issue last month but has been on a tear at the plate this spring, as he's now slashing .320/.414/.560 across 29 trips to the plate. His third-inning home run Friday came off Andrew Painter and left the bat at 105.7 mph. Basallo later added a 108.7 mph bases-clearing, three-run double to center field. The 21-year-old Basallo is expected to see regular at-bats at designated hitter while spelling Adley Rutschman at catcher this season.
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Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Good to go Sunday
Rotowire
Basallo (abdomen) is starting at catcher and batting cleanup in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.
The 21-year-old departed Thursday's spring game due to abdominal discomfort, but he's ready to retake the field after getting a couple days off. The fact that Basallo is immediately working behind the plate rather than being eased back in as the designated hitter is a good indication that the injury wasn't a serious concern.
