Mansolino says Orioles have ‘a plan in place’ for Basallo; Hiraldo recalled, Jackson optioned; Mullins mystery

BALTIMORE—On Friday night, Samuel Basallo returned to the Triple-A Norfolk lineup after not playing for 12 days and was 5-for-5 and hit his 20^th home run.

Basallo missed time after the All-Star break because oblique discomfort.

In 63 games, the 20-year-old Basallo is hitting .282 with a 1.020 OPS.

He’s the top prospect in the Orioles’ organization and the ninth overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com’s Pipeline.

“There’s a plan in place for him right now,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “There’s definitely a plan in place; [executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias] is thinking about him every day. Our front office is really smart. There’s a lot that goes into those decisions. We talked earlier in the year about knocking the door down. It feels like he’s starting to do that in a lot of ways.

“The obvious is the box score. That’s the hitting. What you’re not seeing is the catching. There’s no catching in the box score, so that’s still a really important piece for us.

“We’ve got to have catchers that are great catchers. They affect the other guys. They affect the defense. They affect the whole team every night. His development right now is mostly coming on the catching side. The bat’s ahead of that.”

Basallo has started 25 games at catcher and 17 at first base. He’s been the designated hitter 18 times.

“Mike has a plan in place, and we’ll figure that out as we go,” Mansolino said. “We’re really excited about it.”

Orioles add to bullpen: The Orioles recalled right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo from Norfolk and optioned infielder Jeremiah Jackson to Norfolk.

It’s Hiraldo’s third stint with the Orioles. In his only game, he allowed a hit in 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Jackson was added for Friday night’s game and didn’t play.

Hiraldo is the seventh right-hander in the eight-pitcher bullpen. Grant Wolfram is currently the only left-hander, though Mansolino expects Keegan Akin, who’ll pitch Saturday night for Norfolk, to rejoin the team on Monday. Akin has been on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation.

“It is a big deal,” Mansolino said. “Having lefties, especially in today’s game with how many left-handed hitters are across the league, in our division, would be nice.”

The Orioles have only one left-handed reliever at Norfolk, Cionel Pérez, but he has a 6.46 ERA.

The Mullins mystery: In 2021, centerfielder Cedric Mullins became the first Oriole to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. He hit .291 that season with an .878 OPS. He hasn’t come close to hitting that well since.

Currently, Mullins is hitting .215 with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs.

“We’ve seen him be the 30-30 guy for stretches,” Mansolino said. “There was a stretch this year, the first month of the season, where it was 30-30 Ced.”

Through April 30^th, Mullins was hitting .278 with a .927 OPS with six home runs and 20 RBIs and five steals, but he’s struggled since.

“He’s been searching for that swing off and on all year this year,” Mansolino said. “After April, I don’t think he’s been comfortable with what his swing has been. I feel like the second ’30’ part of it is still there, the stolen base part, just not the 30 homers, or it hasn’t been.”

Mullins had 34 steals in 2022 and 32 last year. He has 14 this season.

He could be on the move before Thursday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline, and Mansolino thinks Mullins’ defense is far better than the -1.5 defensive WAR (Wins Above Replacement) indicates.

“I feel like he gets beaten up with the throwing sometimes,” Mansolino said. “We’re trying to make some adjustments on that, playing shallower to try to help him with some of that stuff.”

Mansolino said that outfield coach Anthony Sanders and the Orioles’ analytics department are trying to figure out why his defensive metrics have fallen.

“The eye test doesn’t show that,” Mansolino said. “When you look at [Defensive Runs Saved], it doesn’t match up with what I’m watching.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.