Minor League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Continues to Mash Incredible Homers at Triple-A

Samuel Basallo popped another mammoth home run on Sunday for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.
Brady Farkas|
Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (89) poses for a photo during photo day at Ed Smith Stadium on Feb. 21.
Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (89) poses for a photo during photo day at Ed Smith Stadium on Feb. 21. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles top prospect Samuel Basallo hit another mammoth home run on Sunday for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, continuing his recent run of strong play in 2025.

You can watch the shot he hit in Louisville, and you can see that it landed on top of the cabana bar.

Basallo, 20, is the No. 16-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He is expected to make his major league debut this season and when he does, he'll bring some of the best power in the minors with him. He's hitting .252 this season with a .365 on-base percentage, and he's also got 13 homers and 26 RBIs in just 39 games. He missed time earlier this season because of injury.

Given that Adley Rutschman is entrenched at catcher, it's unclear where and how Basallo will make his debut. But with the Orioles sitting at 26-38 on the season, perhaps Basallo could see time at first base if the team trades Ryan O'Hearn and/or Ryan Mountcastle.

The following comes from a portion of Basallo's MLB.com prospect profile:

He hits the ball hard as consistently as anyone in the system and even had good exit velocities despite his tribulations with Norfolk. With strong hands and a simple setup, Basallo has a good approach at the plate, limiting strikeouts and drawing walks. He can get over-aggressive at times because of his knack for making contact, leading to higher chase rates, but he’s shown the ability to drive the ball with considerable power to all fields.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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