Which Orioles youngster stands out as a 2026 Rookie of the Year candidate?

There is one Baltimore Orioles player who stands out as their best Rookie of the Year candidate next season.

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Over the last few years, the Baltimore Orioles have consistently seen young players step up and produce at a high level in their lineup.

Coming into the 2025 season, the Orioles had a player finish in the top two of the American League Rookie of the Year Award race in three straight years. Going back to 2019, they have had at least one player land on the final ballot. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson won the award in 2023, while catcher Adley Rutschman and outfielder Colton Cowser finished second in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

The success the franchise exhibited in developing young positional player talent is one of the reasons expectations were so high heading into the campaign. However, with a few players unexpectedly regressing and the pitching staff struggling, Baltimore had an ugly 2025.

Heading into 2026, expectations will be on the rise again with new manager Craig Albernaz at the helm. There is hope that the young players in the lineup will be able to take their production to another level.

Samuel Basallo is Orioles' best candidate to win Rookie of the Year Award

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One of the players who Baltimore will count on to fill a prominent role is catcher Samuel Basallo. The No. 1-ranked prospect in the organization and No. 7 in all of baseball, he has been selected by Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis and Sam Dykstra of MLB.com as the likeliest Rookie of the Year candidate from the Orioles next season.

“It remains to be seen where he plays, but here’s guessing he’s in the lineup most of the time while seeing time behind the plate, at first base and at DH. He’s only 21, but after posting a 151 wRC+ and .966 OPS in Triple-A, there’s nothing left for him to prove offensively in the Minors. He’ll learn from his 31-game big league trial and put up big numbers,” they wrote.

Read More: Craig Albernaz addresses Orioles Adley Rutschman-Samuel Basallo catcher competition

Basallo tore things up down on the farm, punishing opposing pitchers at every stop along the way. As they noted, he has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues despite his youthfulness at 21 years old.

Oozing with potential and talent, he did experience some struggles in his first taste of the major leagues. In 118 plate appearances, he had a .165/.229/.330 slash line. But his power potential still shined through, with four home runs and six doubles to go along with 15 RBI.

While Samuel Basallo didn't have the best start to his MLB career, it would be hard to find another young slugger with as much power upside as him. He absolutely dominated AAA with an absurd .620 xSLG, 94.2 MPH AVG EV, and a 21% Barrel%! pic.twitter.com/Ht8c0boFO7

— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) November 11, 2025

Basallo's 3.4% home run rate is just above the league average of 3.1%. Some bad luck contributed to his struggles, registering a .187 batting average on balls in play; that is more than 100 points below the MLB average of .291.

With more experience gained at the highest level, production is sure to follow shortly after. Basallo already has one of the hardest swings in the sport, which is normally an indicator of good numbers being on the horizon.

Harder swings equate to improved numbers and more damage being done at the plate. Baltimore thinks highly enough of Basallo that they signed him to an eight-year, $67 million extension days after making his big league debut.