O's top catching prospect Basallo headlines 2025 non-roster invites
BALTIMORE -- Samuel Basallo got his first taste of MLB Spring Training in 2024, when the Orioles invited the promising young catcher to big league camp for the first time. That experience should help the 20-year-old as he returns to Sarasota, Fla., this spring.
Basallo (MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 13 overall prospect) is again heading to big league camp, one of the 26 non-roster invitees announced by Baltimore on Thursday. Among those joining him is a trio of outfielders who are fellow O¡¯s prospects -- Enrique Bradfield Jr. (No. 4), Dylan Beavers (No. 6) and Jud Fabian (No. 10), each of whom will be first-timers in MLB camp.
The Orioles have high hopes for Basallo, who was signed out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in January 2021. The 6-foot-4 left-handed hitter has since been one of the most exciting players in the club¡¯s farm system.
Basallo put up strong numbers at Double-A Bowie last season, slashing .289/.355/.465 with 22 doubles, 16 home runs and 55 RBIs in 106 games. That performance earned Basallo his first promotion to Triple-A Norfolk, where he hit .222 with three doubles, three homers, 10 RBIs and a .638 OPS over 21 games.
Last year, Basallo was limited throughout Spring Training by a stress fracture in his right elbow that prevented him from catching until late April. He went 1-for-4 in three Grapefruit League games. This spring, the backstop should be much more involved in the action.
¡°Samuel Basallo¡¯s an incredible player, and the fact that he¡¯s doing what he¡¯s doing at a freshly turned 20 years old is amazing,¡± Orioles director of player development Anthony Villa said at the Winter Meetings in December. ¡°The skill set is amazing, and it¡¯s really awesome to continue to see what he¡¯s capable of every night.¡±
Bradfield also has quite an impressive skill set, one that will be exciting to watch in big league camp. The 2023 first-round Draft pick has 70-grade fielding and 80-grade speed, which the 23-year-old has used to steal 99 bases in 133 Minor League games over the past two seasons.
Although Bradfield wasn¡¯t in big league camp last spring, he still participated in the Orioles¡¯ Spring Breakout prospect showcase vs. the Pirates in Bradenton. He legged out an infield single in the contest, recording an elite sprint speed of 30.5 feet/second (per Statcast) and running from home to first in 3.69 seconds.
Beavers (2022 Competitive Balance Round A pick) and Fabian (¡®22 second-round pick) have risen together since entering Baltimore¡¯s system at the same time. The 23-year-old Beavers and the 24-year-old Fabian each reached Triple-A for the first time in ¡®24.
Here¡¯s the full list of the 26 non-roster invitees heading to Orioles big league camp:
Pitchers (12): LHP Ra¨²l Alcantara, RHP Justin Armbruester, RHP Matt Bowman, LHP Jakob Hernandez, RHP Yaramil Hiraldo, RHP Corbin Martin, RHP Robinson Mart¨ªnez, RHP Rodolfo Martinez, RHP Levi Stoudt, RHP Carlos Tavera, RHP Thaddeus Webb, RHP Nathan Webb
Bowman is back in the organization after recording a 3.45 ERA in 15 relief appearances for the Orioles last season. The 33-year-old is a six-year MLB veteran who also pitched for the Twins, D-backs and Mariners in 2024.
Martin and Thaddeus Webb are among the other non-roster pitchers with big league experience.
Catchers (4): Silas Ardoin, David Ba?uelos, Samuel Basallo, Maverick Handley
The 28-year-old Ba?uelos made his MLB debut last year and spent much of the season on Baltimore¡¯s taxi squad. He¡¯ll be joined by three other non-roster catchers who were all in big league camp last spring.
Infielders (5): Nick Gordon, Jeremiah Jackson, Vimael Machin, Livan Soto, Terrin Vavra
Soto, 24, played 12 games for Baltimore last season, going 3-for-10 (.300) with a double and a run scored. He¡¯s capable of playing all around the infield.
Vavra returned to the organization on Wednesday, when he signed a Minor League deal. The 27-year-old utility man was on the Orioles¡¯ Opening Day roster in 2023, and he played 67 games for the team across the ¡®22 and ¡®23 seasons.
Outfielders (5): Jordyn Adams, Franklin Barreto, Dylan Beavers, Enrique Bradfield Jr., Jud Fabian
The trio of prospects (Beavers, Bradfield and Fabian) are joined by the 25-year-old Adams (a 2017 first-round Draft pick of the Angels with 28 games of MLB experience) and the 28-year-old Barreto (101 games of big league experience from 2017-20).