Minor League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Hits Mammoth Home Run in Spring Training Contest

Samuel Basallo, the No. 13 prospect in the sport, hit an absolute moonshot in Grapefruit League action on Friday.
Brady Farkas|
Shorebirds' Samuel Basallo (21) swings in the game against the Cannon Ballers Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. The Shorebirds defeated the Cannon Ballers 7-2.
Shorebirds' Samuel Basallo (21) swings in the game against the Cannon Ballers Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. The Shorebirds defeated the Cannon Ballers 7-2. | Lauren Roberts/Salisbury Daily Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles top prospect Samuel Basallo impressed fans with an absolute mammoth home run on Friday as the Orioles took on the Toronto Blue Jays in Grapefruit League action.

You can watch the video from the @MLB account:

This baseball may have gone 500 feet

Samuel Basallo, MLB's top catching prospect, sent this baseball OVER the center field scoreboard!

Basallo, 20, was signed back in 2021 and is predicted to make his debut this season, according to MLB.com. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the No. 13 prospect in all of baseball entering the season.

He hit .278 last year in the minor leagues, reaching as high as Triple-A, though he played just 21 games there. In total, he had 19 homers and 65 RBI.

The following comes from a portion of his 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.

When Basallo is ready, it will be interesting to see how he fits on the roster, given that Adley Rutschman is one of the game's top catchers.

The Orioles finished second in the American League East last season and lost in the wild card round of the playoffs.

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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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