SARASOTA, Fla. — The sounds of baseball are as universally recognized as the game itself.

The sound of a ball smacking perfectly in the pocket of a catcher’s mitt. A batter digging his cleats into the dirt. A base runner sliding into second base.

This spring training, everyone at the Orioles’ Ed Smith Stadium complex has been introduced to a new baseball sound, one that could soon make its way to Camden Yards: The noise Samuel Basallo’s bat makes when he squares up the baseball.

“It comes off the bat hot,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Basallo is the talk of Orioles camp. The physically imposing, baby-faced 20-year-old is the best catching prospect in baseball, and he’s looked like it through the first several days of spring training.

From Hyde’s amazement with his batting practice to coaches impressed by his maturity to pitchers pleased with his defense, Basallo is proving he belongs — even if he’s not yet a consideration for the big leagues.

“It’s a really, really impressive batting practice,” Hyde said. “The physical tools are off the charts. I love his swing. We met with him [Saturday], we had a great meeting with him. For 20 years old and being that composed and that sort of ability, you don’t see that very often.”

It’s not hard to understand what’s made the Orioles’ front office and coaching staff so enamored with Basallo. He took batting practice Saturday on a backfield alongside big league catchers Adley Rutschman and Gary Sánchez. In the four rounds, he hit as many home runs off the hard-throwing machine as Rutschman and Sánchez combined.

The left-handed slugger doesn’t just have pull-side power, either. Basallo’s strength as a hitter is through the middle. Two of his homers were to right-center field, while the other two went to straightaway center and left-center field.

“I wouldn’t recommend standing behind the fence in right-center or dead center or left-center,” assistant hitting coach Sherman Johnson said with a smile. “It’s been really fun. He’s obviously a monster.”

The Orioles signed Basallo out of the Dominican Republic when he was 16. He signed for a then-franchise-record $1.3 million as the headliner of the first major investment by the Mike Elias regime after decades of the organization largely passing over the Latin American market. Basallo has been working like a professional since he was 12 years old, when he began waking up at 4:30 a.m. for two-a-day workouts with the hopes of achieving his dream of being a major leaguer — one that’s now within his grasp.

He wasn’t considered a top prospect entering the 2023 campaign — his first playing stateside — but Basallo quickly proved he belonged. He dominated the lower minors that year, reaching Double-A in his age-18 season while putting up eye-popping numbers.

Last season, after dealing with an early-season elbow injury, Basallo posted an .820 OPS in Double-A to earn a promotion to Triple-A. In doing so, he joined an exclusive group of players, mostly MLB superstars, to take more than a week’s worth of plate appearances at Triple-A in their age-19 season.

Basallo’s bat — with one of the best power tools in the minor leagues — has long been ahead of his defensive ability, but 41-year-old pitcher Charlie Morton and new bench coach Robinson Chirinos, a former catcher, have both praised his ability behind the dish.

“Everyone knows about him, he’s a talented player. I think he’s going to be an impact player in this organization — close, soon,” Chirinos said. “Hopefully he can stay healthy, be able to continue his development as a player, especially at a position where you get thrown so much early in your career at the big leagues.

“With his talent, we believe he’s going to help this team. Only God knows when that’s going to happen, but he’s in a good spot right now.”

Elias, the Orioles’ general manager, said last week that it’s too early to discuss when Basallo could arrive in the big leagues. After all, he’s still only 20 and has taken just 81 at-bats at Triple-A.

But his performance this spring could make the difference between the Orioles opening their minds to Basallo being in the plans for 2025 versus waiting for 2026. Or it could make the difference between the Orioles choosing to bring up Basallo to replace an injured Rutschman or Sánchez, or going with one of their older Triple-A catchers.

“I don’t think he’s at the point yet that you want to start talking about timelines,” Elias said. “But when you’re in Triple-A and if you’re doing well in Triple-A, that’s your timeline right there.”

Given Basallo isn’t competing for a roster spot this spring, what should his goals be this spring? Hyde said he wants the youngster to worry less about competing and think more about learning from those around him, especially after his first big league camp last year was stunted because of an injury.

“Just kind of soaking it in a little bit,” Hyde said. “But also just being around Adley and Gary Sánchez and Chirinos and [catching instructor Tim Cossins] and listening every single day defensively, and being in groups with guys he’s in groups with who’ve had good seasons in the major leagues. Just be around, take it all in. He’s going to get a lot of at-bats, I’m gonna play him.”

For those who’ve barely seen Basallo play, his raw power is eye-popping. He certainly doesn’t look like a 20-year-old during batting practice. But for coaches like Johnson, who has spent the past two seasons working with Orioles minor leaguers, they knew it was just a matter of time before everyone else would believe the hype about Basallo.

“I’ve seen him now since he was 18, maybe 17, when I went to the Dominican and saw him,” Johnson said. “He was hitting home runs there, and I was like, ‘Oh, boy.’ I think he’s got a chance to be really special.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.