The Orioles livened up a mid-August weekend in Houston by promoting outfielder Dylan Beavers and catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo.
That weekend began with Brandon Young throwing 7 2/3 perfect innings against the Astros and continued with the additions of Beavers and Basallo.
While those transactions had been expected, the timing on successive days was a surprise.
Beavers did something unusual for a rookie. He walked 26 times in 35 games, the most of any American League rookie from the date of his promotion, August 16th, through the end of the season.
Those 26 walks were just one fewer than Colton Cowser (92 games) and Coby Mayo (85 games).
The 24-year-old Beavers got off to a hot start, hitting .318 in 14 August games before slumping to .167 in 21 games in September.
Overall, Beavers hit .227 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. Those 26 walks helped produce a .375 on-base percentage and a .775 OPS.
Perhaps his most memorable hit came in the Orioles’ final home game of the season when he homered in the bottom of the ninth against Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kelly for a 6-5 win.
It was his second walk-off hit. On September 10th, he singled against Pittsburgh’s Kyle Nicolas in the bottom of the 10th, one game after Basallo’s walk-off single against the Pirates.
Basallo and Beavers became the first pair of Orioles’ rookies with walk-off hits in franchise history.
Beavers was named the International League’s Most Valuable Player. He hit .304 with a .934 OPS, 18 home runs and 51 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk.
Basallo received an eight-year, $67 million contract just five days after he made his major league debut on August 17th. That contract, which includes an option for 2034, was the first extension awarded by president of baseball operations Mike Elias.
Basallo’s first at-bat was a painful one. Houston’s Cristian Javier hit him with a pitch. Later in the game, a 12-0 Orioles win, he had a two-run single for his first hit.
A night later in Boston, the 21-year-old Basallo became the youngest Oriole to catch in a game since 19-year-old Andy Etchebarren on September 30th, 1962.
In the ninth inning, Basallo had another two-run single, becoming the first Oriole rookie with multiple RBIs in his first two games.
He joined Manny Machado in 2012 as the only rookies with RBIs in their first three games thanks to an infield dribbler that scored Jeremiah Jackson in the 11th inning in the next night’s game.
Overall, Basallo hit just .165 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
However, the Orioles weren’t disappointed. Because of Adley Rutschman’s second stint on the injured list with a strained oblique, Basallo started 22 games at catcher.
Rutschman returned for the last six games of the season, and Basallo caught one of those games, played first in another and was the designated hitter in two others.
On September 5th, Basallo became the first Oriole since Henry Urrutia (August 19th, 2015) whose first home run at Camden Yards was a walk-off. That homer beat the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
He became the youngest player with a walk-off home run since Texas’ Jurickson Profar on September 26th, 2013.
Basallo threw out five of 13 runners attempting to steal (38.5 percent).
The Orioles expect much more out of Basallo and Beavers, who are both eligible for the Rookie of the Year award next season. Basallo had 109 at-bats, Beavers had 110.
In order to remain eligible for Rookie of the Year, players must have fewer than 45 days of service time and 130 at-bats. Basallo and Beavers joined the Orioles just after the 45-day cutoff.
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