Samuel

Basallo

Basallo is back at catcher and hitting sixth following a two-game absence due to an ongoing right shoulder issue. It sounds like he’s going to play through the ailment for the final two weeks of the season without going on the injured list.

Basallo takes a seat for the second consecutive game as he deals with an ongoing right shoulder issue. It’ll be Yohel Pozo handling the catching duties in his absence. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status for the remainder of the week. With less than two weeks remaining in the season, there’s little incentive to continue rostering Basallo in shallow mixed leagues.

It’s no surprise since Basallo hasn’t really looked like himself for a couple weeks. The 22-year-old former top prospect is out of the lineup for Monday’s game against the Mets with Carlos Narváez taking over behind the dish. It sounds like he’s going to play through the lingering issue for the final two weeks, but the Orioles don’t want to take any chances with one of their key young players.

Basallo has been struggling with the bat over the final month of the season as he attempts to play through a shoulder injury. With both Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand hitting well, there are no DH at-bats for Basallo, so he has simply been playing every other day as a catcher. That makes him hard to trust in fantasy leagues. Carlos Narvaez will catch and hit ninth on Monday.

No surprise here since Basallo has been playing through a lingering shoulder issue recently. The 22-year-old didn’t look comfortable on a couple swings during Tuesday’s contest, but managed to grind through the rest of the game. It’ll be Carlos Narváez handling the catching duties on Wednesday night in his absence.

Basallo was playing against lefties more often than not before his IL stint last month, but he’s started against just one of six since returning. It also might factor in these last two days that the Orioles want to take advantage of Carlos Narváez’s familiarity with his former Red Sox teammates. Plus, Basallo did suffer a minor hand injury last weekend.

Basallo’s return comes at a fortuitous time for fantasy managers with Baltimore kicking off a three-game series at high-octane Coors Field. He’s back in the lineup after missing Sunday’s game with a hand contusion. The 22-year-old backstop’s presence at DH pushes Christian Encarnacion-Strand to the bench with Blaze Alexander getting the nod at third base. Things are only going to get more crowded with Luis Robert Jr. coming over from the Mets off waivers in the next few days.

Basallo got hit in the hand while attempting to block a wild pitch late during Saturday’s game against the A’s and it’s still feeling a bit sore on Sunday. He’s considered day-to-day.

His one ball in play was a weak groundout. Basallo is 2-for-19 with an 8/0 K/BB since coming off the IL, though one of his hits was a big pinch-hit two-run homer in a 3-2 win Saturday.

Basallo started the day on the bench before playing the hero in the eighth inning for the Orioles. Pinch-hitting for Coby Mayo to face Kevin Kelly, he launched a two-run homer to put the Orioles on the board and tie the game. The home run was his 17th of the season while hitting .239/.303/.451 with 35 runs scored and 48 RBI across 323 plate appearances.