BOWIE—In four seasons managing in the Orioles’ organization, Roberto Mercado has guided most of the Orioles’ top prospects toward the major leagues.
Over the weekend, two of the Orioles’ best prospects — catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo and outfielder Dylan Beavers — joined the major league team.
Mercado managed Basallo at High-A Aberdeen in 2023 and at Double-A Bowie in 2024. Beavers played for Mercado with the IronBirds in 2023 and the Baysox last season.
This year, Mercado, who spent two years at Aberdeen, is in his second season with the Baysox. On Friday, he spoke about Basallo, Beavers and some other interesting players in the Orioles’ organization.
Question: How deserving is Samuel Basallo of a major league opportunity?
Roberto Mercado: “I know that’s something he’s worked so hard for. He’s matured over the years. For being so young, just seeing him from High-A and then seeing him last year in Double-A. Seeing what he’s been doing in Triple-A has been outstanding. It’s a testament to his work ethic, humbleness and working hard to being a great teammate. Continuing to work on his defense.
“He’s a special player. He’s a special person, a family guy who loves his family. He has a great foundation there to keep him sane, help him out when things are going rough. It hasn’t been really rough this year. He’s swung well in Triple-A. He’s had a couple of injuries and learning how to deal with those, how to come back from those has been great for him as well.”
Question: How exciting has Beavers’ progress been for you?
Mercado: “I think our staff, our hitting staff did a tremendous job in the offseason. They worked on a couple of things. We’re seeing that work through an entire season. I’m super pumped for him. I still keep in contact with him. I know he’s excited, and when he gets called, he’ll be super pumped, everybody in the organization.”
“A lot of people put a lot of blood, sweat and tears. We love the kid and hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.”
Question: What’s your evaluation on Enrique Bradfield Jr?
Mercado: “The defense has always been there, elite defense. Swing decisions have always been solid. More of just a maturity level in regards to his at-bats and how he goes about his baserunning. Obviously we see the speed, but there’s more behind it that people don’t see. It’s the IQ, taking calculated risks. It’s a gamble. Just seeing him throw and continuing to learn, as talented as he is, he continues to want to learn. He’s a great guy to have around. A great guy to have in the clubhouse, great energy as well.”
Question: Earlier this year, you had Jeremiah Jackson with the Baysox? Are your surprised to see him in the big leagues?
Mercado: “I knew him from Binghamton, just facing him. ‘Man, this guy is a pretty good player.’ He was a great leader in the clubhouse. Our clubhouse is so welcoming. Everybody welcomed him right away. He spoke in meetings. He helped guys. That’s one thing he doesn’t lack is confidence. He instilled that with a lot of guys that were going through tough times.
Question: Didn’t Jackson have something he liked to tell teammates?
Mercado: “You’re always an at-bat away from getting your next hit. It’s almost like just have that short-term memory. Mentally tough, calm, cool and collected. Never too high, never too low, Never hits that panic button. He did a good job of putting those values into our guys.
“With the situation that we’re in and what’s happening in the big leagues, I’m not surprised, to be honest with you. The kid could swing it. Maybe the numbers weren’t as great here as they were in Triple-A, but he had it in him. He had that drive. He had the work ethic to get there. We’re pumped for him. We’re all happy for him. We got to watch his first hit here in the clubhouse, and all the guys were pumped. It’s awesome. It’s really great to see.”
Question: How was it getting several new players at Chesapeake due to the trades the Orioles made at the deadline?
Mercado: “It’s exciting. It’s new opportunities for guys, and our clubhouse, we do a good job of welcoming guys. We were talking about the Domínguez trade.
“The guys kind of welcomed [Juaron Watts-Brown] in. It’s a great atmosphere. It’s a great clubhouse. It’s been great. I’ve seen a lot of good things out of these guys already in a short period of time, so I’m excited to see some new faces.”
Question: Not only are the Orioles having a tough season, but the four affiliates are all struggling. How hard has it been for you?
Mercado: “It’s been great, honestly. We want to win some more ballgames, obviously. There’s been some injuries and we’ve had some guys nicked up. A lot of different faces have come through here. At the end of the day, our job is to create an elite learning environment where guys continue to grow and con get better. Whoever we have on our roster, we’re going to continue to work hard.
“Our coaching staff does a great job. I can talk about each one of these guys who work their tails off and to help guys individually. The last three days we’ve swung the bat really, really well. We’ve got a lot guys healthy back and a lot of new faces, Butterworth and Overn getting called up as been a plus as well. It’s been fun, exciting. Obviously, we want to win more games, but at the end of the day, it’s about developing players and helping the big league team in the future with some of these guys that we have here.”
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.