Until 2020, Craig Albernaz had never heard the term “player development” used so frequently at the major league level. To that point, development was Albernaz’s game — he was a minor league field coordinator with the Tampa Bay Rays — but in the minors, development is paramount.

Then he joined Gabe Kapler’s staff with the San Francisco Giants as a bullpen and catching coach, and the term kept coming up again and again. In Baltimore, where Albernaz is now a first-time manager looking to rejuvenate a team that underperformed last season, player development will once more take center stage.

When considering those who must improve, there are bounce-back candidates (such as catcher Adley Rutschman and, to a lesser extent, shortstop Gunnar Henderson). Then there is a major piece of this young core who has already been handed a major vote of confidence in his ability to continue developing at the highest level with a contract extension.

That is Samuel Basallo, the 21-year-old top prospect who appeared in 31 games last season for the Orioles.

When summarizing how he performed, Basallo viewed it as a positive learning opportunity. But he also said there were “things I was failing at offensively I would like to work on.”

If Basallo hadn’t struggled in some capacity, that would be more noteworthy. As the gap between the minors and majors widens — possibly a trickle-down from the reduction in minor league roster size — hot prospects often sink before swimming when they first face elite pitching.

Basallo hit .165 with a .559 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. Basing too much on a 31-game sample would be a fool’s errand. After all, even the game’s greats go through long slumps during a full campaign.

But when Basallo describes “failing” at certain areas offensively, it’s fairly clear what he means. In Triple-A, Basallo averaged 1.73 strikeouts per walk. In his 31 games for the Orioles, he struck out five times per every walk (30 to six).

His massive power shined through with four home runs, and he came in clutch on multiple occasions by just putting the ball in play (a swinging bunt, for instance, in Boston brought home the go-ahead run). But Basallo expanded the strike zone (38.7% chase rate) and whiffed far too frequently (29.4% swing and miss rate) in his first exposure to the big leagues, according to Statcast metrics.

“It helped me learn the things I wanted to attack in the offseason, the things I wanted to get better at,” Basallo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I do think the time I spent up here helped me going into the offseason.”

As far as player development is concerned, that’s the exact mentality Basallo needs to employ. He can look at what he did well and maintain it, and he can look honestly at what didn’t work. For one, his average bat speed of 75.5 mph is a positive indication that when Basallo begins to make more contact, his power numbers will increase.

That was abundantly clear in Triple-A. According to Prospect Savant, Basallo’s average exit velocity of 94.2 mph ranked in the 95th percentile. Balls left his bat at 95 mph or faster on 57.4% of the time he made contact. Generally speaking, harder-hit balls have an easier time avoiding defenders and can travel farther.

Then again, for as strong as Basallo’s bat-to-ball skills are, he showed in Triple-A that he’s still raw. He chased pitches out of the strike zone 32.77% of the time, which ranked in the bottom 23rd percentile. As the competition increases, giving away free strikes (or inducing soft contact when swinging at pitches not tailor-made for his swing) will only make the job of a pitcher easier.

Basallo is well aware of these proficiencies and deficiencies. So are the Orioles. They handed him a guaranteed contract worth $67 million because they believe Basallo can and will maximize his current strengths and improve whatever weaknesses opposing pitchers may target. And Basallo will have a stable of coaches around him who understand the player development aspect of the majors.

“You want to bring in the right coaches that can teach, but you also want to make sure all of our coaches are doing a job and satisfied doing their job,” Albernaz said. “That’s something with our coaching stuff we brought in, they’re hungry, they want to get our players better, but more importantly, they’re egoless, and to me that’s the biggest driver of our coaching staff.”

Much of the development for Basallo will come defensively as a catcher and as an occasional first baseman. Former interim manager Tony Mansolino often lauded what he saw from Basallo as a first baseman, but the signing of Pete Alonso likely limits Basallo’s role at that position.

He will compete with Rutschman for starts behind the plate, and there will also be a mix of players in contention for the designated hitter spot each game. At this point, it’s not much of a shock that Rutschman is considered a stronger game caller than Basallo. Multiple pitchers who worked with Basallo last year called their own pitches, while Rutschman tends to take control of that aspect of the game.

Mastering that side of catching will take time. But like anything, Basallo will learn by doing.

In an earlier age, Basallo may have had to wait in the minors to finish the last stages of his development. Somewhere along the way, however, major league organizations have grown more comfortable with the idea that their players may only improve by facing the best — and the lumps along the way could pay off later.

“Basallo is a unit. He’s a big dude. All those guys are big. Well, to me, everybody’s big,” Albernaz said. “But no, he’s an impactful player, and for us, there are going to be plenty of at-bats to go around. So, performance is going to dictate a lot. For him, everything I know, every conversation with him, the background on him, he’s a competitor and he wants to get better and he’s a team-first guy. So, when you have that makeup, he’s going to be just fine.”