The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of catcher David Bañuelos from Triple-A Norfolk. He was already with the club on their taxi squad, Jake Rill of MLB.com points out, making him a natural fit to temporarily fill the roster spot vacated by this morning’s trade of reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays. Baltimore also appointed lefty Grant Wolfram as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader, so they’ll still have a full stock of relievers.
Bañuelos, 28, appeared in one big league game with Baltimore last year but flew out in his only plate appearance. That’s the only major league at-bat of his career. Assuming this is a short-term selection to avoid playing a man down in today’s doubleheader, Bañuelos might not get another opportunity. He’ll be serving as a third catcher alongside Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson on an injury-ravaged Orioles roster.
Bañuelos has missed a fair bit of time on the injured list himself so far in 2025. He’s tallied only 64 plate appearances with Norfolk, going just 5-for-57 with a homer, seven walks and 21 strikeouts. The resulting .088/.188/.193 batting line is an eyesore, but Bañuelos posted a more solid .225/.360/.352 line in 22 Triple-A games for the O’s last year. He’s a career .197/.276/.362 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.
Offense has never been a big part of Bañuelos’ game. He’s been touted as a glove-first catcher even dating back to his amateur days at Long Beach State. The Mariners selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, but he’s spent the bulk of his career in the Twins system. The O’s signed him to a minor league deal following the 2023 season, and he’s now in his second year within their system.
Still no Basallo. Why not?
control Time…
Because Basallo hasn’t proven he can play catcher everyday at an acceptable level yet and we already have 2 catchers on the MLB roster. Banuelos was only selected because he was already with the team on the taxi squad and they aren’t afraid to potentially lose him when they DFA him tonight or tomorrow morning.
I don’t think the 3 guys mentioned can hit everyday at an acceptable level.
beyou — The FO seems to think the potential value of a 31st pick out weighs the development time Basallo could have at the MLB level. Missing an opportunity, imo.
The bat is ready, there is an opportunity at the MLB level, and there is no pressure on the team to Win and to allow him to get his rookie lumps without derailing team goals. That won’t be the case next year (well, ought not to be the case).
Let the kid Basallo play…
They refuse to just so they can get an extra year of him because they’re cheap. It’s sad tbh
I have a question about the upcoming draft… Who goes number 1 overall and who do you think the Rockies take at number 4? Will the Rockies pick a pitcher because it’s impossible to attract pitchers to Colorado or do the go with a hitter and take advantage of the great hitting environment? I think they have to concentrate on hitters and develop them and trade them for pitching. They just have zero luck with pitching.
Since 2020, they have selected pitchers at least 50% of the time. It’s time to focus on hitting.
Bro since when are we talking about the Rockies
Melchez17 — I think Holliday goes first, or at least I hope so as an Baltimore fan. Fun rivalry with those DC brats, err, Nats.
Who should the Rox pick, the best player. Dunno who that is/will be at the 4 pick, but it does seem like the Rox do better with Bats than Arms, as an organization.
As for the environment of the Rox, that’s, too me, the biggest obstacle to Rox success. (Granted, ownership, institutional mindset, FO acumen, and Division all pose big issues too). And while you can change all the other issues, 4000 feet is an unsolvable issue.
Humidor aside, seems like the whole stadium would have to be pressurized to sub 1000 feet (not sure that’s possible technically/financially) or they’d have to have a portion of the team that never leaves 4000, and some that never leave sub 1000 feet (not sure that’s possible professionally/within limits of MLB rules).
With Denver’s environment being SUCH a MASSIVE outlier than every other 29 teams, and the environment effects the games outcomes disproportionately in MLB more than every other sport (golf/tennis??), it’s hard to imagine sustainable success.
I think the GM/FO roles for the Rockies are the most difficult jobs in all of sports. By miles. (Pun)
What do you fans think of the environmental challenge? It’s a good market, and I know fans love them Rox, but what’s the silver lining you see?
Rockies will pick whomever the Dodgers tell them to pick. Then trade him to them before the screw him up in their player dev program. lol
WHO? Sweet cheese fries… Do yourselves a favor and ship this dude to Fukuoka Detention House 福岡拘置所