Orioles have to address this flaw and quickly if Samuel Basallo is going be their catcher

The Baltimore Orioles decided during the year to make a drastic change behind the plate. At the trade deadline, they dealt All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman to the Boston Red Sox, opening up the starting spot for Samuel Basallo.

Basallo had almost a year of MLB experience under his belt at the time of the trade and about 130 career games (not all of which were behind the plate). It was the second major vote of confidence the organization had given him, the first being his eight-year contract he received just five games into his career.

The 22-year-old has always been a bat-first catcher. His hit tool was what propelled him to the majors at such a young age. There were questions surrounding his long-term future behind the plate, with some scouts believing he would make the move to first base or DH early in his career. At least for the time being, that won't be happening.

One thing young catchers tend to struggle with the most is game calling. They need to be able to help pitchers every at-bat, knowing not just the pitchers' strengths and weaknesses, but also every batter's. Those are skills that can take longer to develop, and for Basallo, he hasn't had a lot of catching experience. That really showed this year.

Samuel Basallo needs to work with his pitcher over the offseason

Shane Baz and Brandon Young both had a higher ERA with Basallo as their catcher than with Rutschman. Baz wasn't a huge gap: 4.06 with Rutschman to 4.34 with Basallo, but Brandon Young had a 6.85 ERA compared to a 3.13 ERA with Rutschman. Bradish was only slightly better with Basallo, 3.71 ERA to 4.05.

The Orioles have instilled a lot of trust in Basallo, but now he needs to back that up by truly learning his pitching staff. Pitchers have preferred catchers; they know when one calls their games better than another. Basallo needs to get into the good graces of the pitching staff if he is going to back up the trust the front office is putting in him.

One good sign for Basallo is that the team as a whole performed better with him behind the dish. Orioles' pitcher had a 3.67 ERA with the 22-year-old catcher. What that means is that the bullpen arms  likely were doing better with him than the starters. The starters are the ones who need to trust him, though. They are the ones throwing the most innings, and if they aren't confident with him, he won't be catching very much.

The Orioles took a gamble trading away Rutschman. He had a year left before he reached free agency, but they decided they could trust Basallo. They also acquired another catcher in that deal, though: Carlos Narvaez, who was a Gold Glove finalist in 2025. If Basallo can't learn his pitchers over the offseason, he might lose his chances as behind the plate.

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