SARASOTA, Fla. -- Remember less than a week ago when Samuel Basallo slugged his first Grapefruit League home run and continued his hot spring with a five-RBI showing against the Phillies in Clearwater? That was only a warmup act.
If you already thought the 21-year-old was setting himself up for a breakout 2026 season, wait until you hear what he did Thursday night.
Basallo crushed two more homers during a 3-for-3 performance in the Orioles' 5-2 exhibition win over the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. The pair of blasts (which came during the first and third innings) had exit velocities of 106.3 and 110.6 mph, respectively, according to Statcast. He also added a 104.7 mph, left-on-left single in the sixth.
That's nothing new for MLB Pipeline's No. 8 overall prospect, though. Of Basallo's 12 hits this Spring Training, 10 have had an exit velo of 104.3 mph or greater. And seven have gone for extra bases.
"I think that has something to do with the fact that I'm pretty big," Basallo said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. "So I think any time that I put the ball in play, I think I hit it pretty hard. It's not that I'm trying to go up there and hit like a crazy chicken and go crazy out there in the batter's box, but just trying to stay focused in my approach and do what I can to put up a good at-bat."
In the first, Basallo worked a 2-2 count against Pirates right-hander Cam Sanders before pouncing on the seventh pitch of the at-bat -- a 97.1 mph four-seam fastball that Basallo turned on and deposited well beyond the right-field fence.
Basallo's second home run of the night -- with its 110.6 mph marking his highest of the spring -- came when he jumped on a first-pitch changeup from righty Mike Clevinger that was left over the heart of the strike zone.
Through 12 Grapefruit games, Basallo is hitting .375 (12-for-32) with a 1.225 OPS. He's also been praised for his defensive work behind the plate, which continues to improve with experience.
"You see how hard he hit those balls today? He's awesome," said left-hander Trevor Rogers, who allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings in his final tune-up for his Opening Day start. "He's slowly maturing into a really, really good professional player, and I mean, he's only, what is he, 14? 21? Something like that. But all joking aside, he really impressed me tonight.
"There was a situation tonight where I was thinking a pitch based on the last pitch, and he called it right away. He's seeing things, and just being able to do what he does on both sides of the [ball] and separate those two and not taking his at-bats behind the plate, I'm super impressed with him and I'm glad he's my catcher."
Last year, Basallo mostly struggled in his first taste of the big leagues, as many young players do. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, native hit .165 with six doubles, four home runs, 15 RBIs and a .559 OPS over 31 games. However, the O's showed their confidence in Basallo's potential by signing him to an eight-year, $67 million extension last Aug. 22.
That commitment could work out quite well for the Orioles in the long term, and potentially even as soon as this year, as Basallo is entering the season among the front-runners for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. The left-handed-hitting backstop will be breaking camp with the big league club for the first time, and he should get plenty of starts between catcher and designated hitter.
"Feeling ready, feeling confident," Basallo said. "I think that's one of the biggest things that I feel like I lacked last year, was that confidence. So going into this season, just really confident and ready to go."
Baltimore's catching duo could be among the best in the Majors this year, with Adley Rutschman looking to turn a strong spring of his own (a .289/.341/.500 slash line with two home runs) into a bounce-back season following his injury-plagued 2025 campaign.
"We're very fortunate and lucky to have two really good catchers on both sides of the ball," manager Craig Albernaz said. "To see both of them kind of come into their own, I would say, in Spring Training at the right time, both of them have been working so hard with our hitting group and also on the defensive side."