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Coby Mayo

Orioles Place Ryan Mountcastle On 10-Day IL, Recall Coby Mayo

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The Orioles announced four roster moves Saturday, including the news that first baseman Ryan Mountcastle has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.  Top infield prospect Coby Mayo has been called up from Triple-A Norfolk, and outfielder Jordyn Adams is also heading up from Triple-A after his contract was selected to Baltimore’s active roster.  To create space on the 40-man roster, catcher Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment.

Mountcastle stole home for what ended up as the winning run in the Orioles’ 2-1 win over the White Sox yesterday, but the first baseman left the game a couple of innings later due to what was described just as discomfort in his hamstring.  The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, as interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that Mountcastle would be undergoing an MRI today.

Like much of the Orioles roster, Mountcastle has gotten off to a rough start in 2025, with just a .246/.280/.348 slash line to show for 200 plate appearances.  It is a huge dropoff from the generally solid (112 wRC+) production Mountcastle posted over his first five seasons as a regular in the O’s lineup.  Mountcastle has traditionally hit with enough power to overcome subpar walk and strikeout totals, but while his barrel and barrel rates are at his career norms, his Isolated Power is only .102 (far below his .185 career number prior to 2025).

This IL stint could be viewed as a potential reset for Mountcastle’s season in this context, and his absence gives Mayo another shot at establishing himself at the MLB level.  Mayo has been called up for a few limited stints in the majors over the last two seasons, and has hit only .094/.186/.094 over 59 PA against big league pitching.  Even these extreme struggles can be written off as a small sample size, though Mayo’s domination of Triple-A pitching has also fallen off this year, as he has a modest .226/.318/.452 slash over 195 PA in Norfolk.

It is obviously far too soon to write off a player who has gone from being a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft to a fixture on top-100 prospect lists.  Mayo hasn’t gotten much playing time with Baltimore due to the team’s crowded infield, yet perhaps in monkey’s paw fashion, some opportunity has now arisen due to the Orioles’ disastrous start and the swath of injuries that have taken out most of the everyday lineup.

Mountcastle joins Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins, Tyler O’Neill, Gary Sanchez, and Ramon Laureano on the long list of Orioles position players on the IL.  Between this group and several pitchers also sidelined, the Orioles haven’t been able to make up the depth in stumbling to a 20-36 record.

Westburg and Cowser are both on Triple-A rehab assignments and could be back in relatively short order.  With Mullins hitting the IL yesterday, however, the Orioles will shore up their outfield by adding Adams, who inked a minor league contract with the team over the offseason.

Adams has hit only .212/.316/.345 in 136 PA at Triple-A this season, and his big league track record consists of a .176/.205/.216 slash line in 78 PA with the Angels over the 2023-24 seasons.  A former first-rounder who received some top-100 attention during his time in the Halos’ farm system, Adams can play all three outfield positions, and is a decent bench option to have on hand until Cowser returns.

Tromp was also a minor league signing in April, and he was selected to the MLB roster earlier this week due to concerns that Adley Rutschman might have required a stint on the seven-day concussion-related IL.  Since Rutschman ended up needing just a couple of days off and Maverick Handley is on hand as the backup catcher, Tromp will now head to DFA limbo after making two in-game appearances during his brief time on Baltimore’s roster.

Tromp has seen at least a little action in each of the last six MLB seasons, appearing in 63 total games with the Giants, Braves, and Orioles from 2020-25.  Tromp is out of minor league options, and thus the O’s had to designate him and expose him to the waiver wire before trying to send him down to Triple-A.  If Tromp clears waivers, he can reject an outright assignment to Triple-A because he has previously been outrighted in his career.  It remains to be seen if Tromp may choose to move on from the Orioles given the crowded depth chart of Rutschman, Handley, and Sanchez, as Tromp may prefer to join a team that has more of a clear path to big league playing time.

Orioles Recall Coby Mayo

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3:27pm: The Orioles have officially announced Mayo’s promotion. As noted by Kubatko, Urias was in fact placed on the 10-day injured list with what the Orioles have termed a “mild” hamstring strain. Manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Kubatko) that the club expects Urias’s trip to the IL to be a short one, and then he’ll resume a running progression after resting for a couple of days.

1:00pm: The Orioles are bringing infield prospect Coby Mayo back up to the majors. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reported that Mayo was on his way to join the team. Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun confirmed that Mayo would indeed be recalled to the active roster.

Mayo, 23, is one of the best prospects in baseball but he has struggled to find playing time in a crowded Baltimore infield. He made his major league debut last year but was optioned back to the minors multiple times and only got 46 plate appearances over 17 games.

He came into camp this year with a shot at earning an Opening Day job but was optioned to the minors in mid-March. Mayo is only really a viable option at the corners. Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn have been sharing first base and the designated hitter spot.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson started the season on the IL but the club decided to go with a rotation of Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías to cover the three infield spots to the left of first base. Henderson was off the IL after missing just seven games. That left Westburg and Urías sharing third while Holliday and Mateo shared second.

Though Mayo expressed some frustration with getting optioned, he has continued mashing in the minors. He already has six home runs and has been drawing walks at a 12.6% pace. He has a .252/.346/.523 line and 130 wRC+ for the year. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has 1,147 minor league plate appearances with a .287/.390/.570 line and 149 wRC+.

Though he has been doing everything in his power to push for a promotion, the O’s seemed content to wait. Yesterday, general manager Mike Elias spoke on the situation, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. “He’s going to be a big part of this team,” Elias said, though he added that Mayo needed the “right opportunity” or the “right pathway”.

It seems that injuries have finally created that pathway. Westburg landed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week due to a left hamstring strain. Urías was scratched from last night’s game due to right hamstring tightness, leaving Emmanuel Rivera to play third base. With Mayo’s reported recall, perhaps Urías will land on the injured list. Presumably, Mayo will take over at the regular third baseman, with Rivera serving a bench role.

Perhaps that means this will only be a brief promotion. Mayo only hit .098/.196/.098 in his debut last year. If he struggles again this time, he could end up optioned back to Norfolk when Westburg and Urías get healthy, though it’s also possible that he hits enough to stick around. Mountcastle is having an awful year, so perhaps there’s a scenario where his playing time goes to Mayo even with Westburg and Urías on the roster.

Time will tell how that plays out, which will impact Mayo’s future contractual status. He came into this year with 43 days of major league service time, putting him 129 shy of the one-year mark. There are still 148 days remaining in the regular season, meaning Mayo can get over the one-year line if he’s up the rest of the way. That would put him on track to qualify for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030. However, getting optioned back down to the minors later in the year could prevent him from getting over the one-year line and could push those timelines.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Orioles Reportedly Open To Offers On Ryan Mountcastle

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The Orioles are letting rival clubs know that first baseman Ryan Mountcastle is available in trade talks, according to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today. There’s no indication that Baltimore is particularly close to moving Mountcastle, and now that the regular season has begun it wouldn’t be a surprise if talks were largely tabled until closer to the trade deadline.

Mountcastle, 28, was a first-round pick by the Orioles back in 2015 and a consensus top-100 prospect prior to his big league debut in 2020. The slugger received down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes in both 2020 and ’21 as he hit a combined .270/.324/.488 with 38 homers and 28 doubles in 179 games across the two seasons. That explosive start to Mountcastle’s MLB career didn’t last, however, as he’s not slugged 30 homers in a season since 2021 and saw his everyday playing time in Baltimore erode somewhat following the breakout season Ryan O’Hearn enjoyed in 2023. Since the start of the 2022 campaign, Mountcastle has looked the part of a solid if unspectacular regular. He’s slashed .262/.312/.431 with 53 homers and 80 doubles in 387 games while playing generally adequate defense at first base.

Overall, Mountcastle is clearly a valuable player but one that looks like an increasingly questionable fit on the Orioles’ roster. As previously mentioned, O’Hearn has come into his own since breaking out in Baltimore during the 2023 season, and his .276/.329/.449 slash line in 257 games with the Orioles indicates that he’s actually outproduced Mountcastle on a rate basis in that time. If O’Hearn was the only player competing with Mountcastle for time at the hot corner, perhaps that wouldn’t be worth exploring a trade over. After all, the right-handed hitting Mountcastle serves as a strong complement for the lefty-swinging O’Hearn, who has been heavily platooned throughout his career and does not hit well against fellow southpaws.

Mountcastle’s long-term fit in Baltimore is further complicated by the presence of Coby Mayo. The Orioles’ top prospect is a consensus top-30 talent in the sport, and he’s clearly ready for a proper big league audition even after struggling badly in a 17-game cup of coffee last year given his career .276/.373/.536 slash line at Triple-A. Much like Mountcastle himself, the 23-year-old Mayo profiles best as a first baseman at the big league level despite coming up through the minors as a third baseman. There simply isn’t enough room for all of Mountcastle, Mayo, and O’Hearn in the club’s first base plans, and while occasional time at DH or in the corner outfield spots could help the club better allocate playing time those spots are already crowded by the presence of Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill, and Heston Kjerstad not to mention Ramon Laureano.

With such a deep group of corner outfield and DH options already, it seems likely that a trade opening up time at first base represents Mayo’s best path to regular playing time in Baltimore outside of an injury at the big league level. Of the club’s other two first base options, Mountcastle makes the most sense to shop given the fact that Mayo is a fellow right-handed hitter, meaning he would serve as a strong complement to O’Hearn the same way Mountcastle has over the past two seasons. Mayo would not be able to slide into O’Hearn’s role alongside Mountcastle anywhere near as easily, with the two right-handed hitters likely proving somewhat redundant even if O’Hearn was no longer in the mix.

If Mountcastle is indeed on the trade block, he’d be an attractive addition for plenty of teams. The 28-year-old is controlled through the end of the 2026 season, and while he’s largely limited defensively to first base and DH he should still be an intriguing potential addition for clubs in need of right-handed thump in the lineup. A heavily left-handed lineup like that of the Tigers could surely benefit from the presence of a player like Mountcastle, especially if Spencer Torkelson can’t maintain his hot start and remains a question mark this year. The Diamondbacks, Twins, Giants, and Padres are among the other clubs for whom Mountcastle could be an upgrade, though with four months until the trade deadline there’s still plenty of time for the needs of clubs all around the league to change and impact Mountcastle’s market if the Orioles are set on moving him.

Orioles Option Coby Mayo To Minor League Camp

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that they’ve optioned top infield prospect Coby Mayo to minor league camp. He’ll open the season at Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore also reassigned non-roster invitees Samuel Basallo, Daz Cameron, Nick Gordon, Corbin Martin, Levi Stoudt and Thaddeus Ward to minor league camp.

Mayo, 23, has played parts of two seasons in Triple-A. He’s a .279/.376/.543 hitter in 151 career games at that level. He expressed some disappointment with the move. “It obviously sucks because you feel like you’ve proven everything you’ve needed to (in the minors),” he told reporters (including Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner). “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough. Obviously, you go back there and if you have success, it’s ’oh he’s supposed to have success because he’s already proven it,’ and if he doesn’t have success, it’s ’well obviously he’s fallen off.’ It’s kind of a lose-lose going to Norfolk.”

Manager Brandon Hyde said the move is a testament to Baltimore’s infield depth. “Good teams option players that they like,” Hyde said (via Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Banner). “More reps at Triple-A, we feel like that’s what he needs right now.”

While it’s understandable that Mayo feels he doesn’t have much more to show against minor league pitching, the Orioles weren’t likely to carry him on the Opening Day roster. He appeared in 17 major league games last season, hitting .098 while striking out 22 times in 46 plate appearances. He had a similarly poor camp, batting .190 with 13 strikeouts and no homers over 46 trips to the dish.

Mayo drilled 22 homers in 89 Triple-A contests last year. He has huge power and draws plenty of walks. There’ll be a lot of strikeouts, but Mayo has a shot to hit in the middle of the lineup at his peak. The O’s aren’t going to want him sitting on the MLB bench. Ramón Urías and (once healthy) Jorge Mateo are better fits for utility roles. Mayo isn’t going to play over Jordan Westburg at third base. The O’s have Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn and backup catcher Gary Sánchez lined up for the majority of reps between first base and designated hitter. Mayo could theoretically push Mountcastle for playing time at first base, but the latter is an established above-average hitter who is having a monster spring.

The infield depth has made Mayo the subject of some trade speculation, but it’s rare for teams to deal away prospects of that caliber. He still has two option years remaining (including this one), so there’s no pressing roster consideration. O’Hearn and Sánchez will be free agents next offseason. Mountcastle has two seasons of arbitration control remaining. There should be a clearer path for Mayo (and Basallo) to break camp in 2026. For now, it’ll probably require injuries to players above him on the depth chart to get everyday reps in the big leagues.

Padres Inquired About Westburg, Mayo, Basallo In Cease Trade Talks With Orioles

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Reports back in December suggested that the Orioles had trade interest in Dylan Cease, and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko wrote today that the O’s and Padres indeed had some level of discussion about the right-hander’s availability.  However, it isn’t clear if talks have gone anywhere, as Kubatko reports that San Diego “checked on” some notable Baltimore players who “weren’t on the table,” including All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg and top prospects Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo.  The nature of the trade discussion aren’t known, but presumably one of these three would’ve been the headliner of a trade package, with Cease (and perhaps other players) heading to Baltimore in return.

Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is said to be looking for “significant major-league value” in exchange for Cease, and it is only natural that Preller would aim high when discussing perhaps his top trade chip.  Landing Westburg would have filled San Diego’s second base position for years to come, Mayo could’ve become the Padres’ first baseman of the future and very likely a contributor in 2025, and Basallo projects as a keeper at either first base or catcher.  San Diego already has one of the sport’s top catching prospects in Ethan Salas, but further adding to the future depth chart would’ve given the Padres an embarrassment of riches at a notoriously difficult position to fill.

For many of these same reasons, the Orioles obviously have no interest in dealing any of this trio.  As Kubatko notes, it is particularly unlikely that Baltimore (or perhaps any other team) would trade away premium controllable talent for Cease, who is slated to enter free agency next winter.

It should be noted that the Orioles did swing a big trade for a rental pitcher just over a year ago, when the O’s moved Joey Ortiz, DL Hall, and the 34th overall pick in the 2024 draft (Baltimore’s Competitive Balance Round selection) to the Brewers in exchange for Corbin Burnes.  That trade package has been suggested by many as a possible comp for what the Padres might realistically hope to land in a Cease deal, though the fact that the Orioles already depleted their minor league depth for Burnes might make them unlikely to make another splurge for a pitcher with one year of control.

The Twins, Mets, Cubs, and Red Sox are among the teams who have also been linked to Cease’s trade market at various points this winter, though reports have suggested that Minnesota and New York are unable or unwilling to meet the Padres’ demands.  The Red Sox already dealt away some noteworthy young talent to obtain Garrett Crochet from the White Sox, and might not want to move even more players to also add Cease.

With several weeks to go before Opening Day, it is certainly still possible any of these teams or the Orioles could re-emerge as possible trade partners, should the Padres lower their asking price.  On the flip side, pitching injuries in Spring Training might well bring some new teams into the mix, perhaps with some increased desperation that would make them more willing to cough up a bigger trade package that would come closer to meeting San Diego’s needs.

Since Burnes was entering free agency and ultimately headed to the Diamondbacks, an ace pitcher was widely seen as perhaps the top need on Baltimore’s offseason checklist.  While the O’s were known to have at least had some talks about some top free agents or trade targets, the club instead made more moderate pitching adds, signing Tomoyuki Sugano and Charlie Morton to one-year contracts.  Sugano and Morton join Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, and Dean Kremer as the Orioles’ projected starting five, with Albert Suarez working as a swingman in the bullpen, and the likes of Cade Povich, Trevor Rogers, and Chayce McDermott at Triple-A as further depth options.

With Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells also hoping to make late-season returns from UCL surgeries last season, the Orioles might end up having a surplus of rotation options if everyone is healthy.  In theory, it would make sense if the O’s offered one of the younger big league-ready arms as part of a Cease trade, as the Padres could then use that pitcher to take Cease’s spot in their own rotation.  But, with Eflin, Morton, and Sugano all free agents next winter, Baltimore surely hopes to dip into its depth to reload what might be a very different-looking rotation in 2026.

What Will The Orioles Outfield Look Like In 2025?

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The Orioles ran out the same three outfielders each Opening Day between 2021 and ’24: Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, and Austin Hays. And in each year from 2020-23, Mullins, Santander, and Hays were Baltimore’s three primary outfielders. This past season, however, Colton Cowser broke out with a phenomenal rookie campaign, cementing his position in the outfield at Camden Yards for years to come. Facing a logjam in the lineup, the Orioles dealt Hays to the Phillies ahead of the trade deadline, officially splitting up the Mullins/Santander/Hays triumvirate. Santander could be next to leave; after the conclusion of the World Series, he will become a free agent. Thus, for the first time in a long time, the Orioles’ outfield could look quite different on Opening Day 2025.

There is no doubt that Cowser will have a job in the Orioles’ outfield next season. Not only did he hit 24 home runs with a 120 wRC+ in 2024, but he did so while playing strong defense. The 24-year-old compiled 11 OAA and 3 DRS over 809 2/3 innings in left field, 310 innings in center, and 73 innings in right. He made just one error all year. Cowser is under team control through at least the 2029 season, and he will not be eligible for arbitration until at least 2027.

Mullins should be a lock for the 2025 outfield as well, although the Orioles will have to tender him a contract as he enters his final year of arbitration eligibility. Matt Swartz’s model estimates Mullins would earn approximately $8.7MM next year, a $2.375MM raise from his $6.325MM salary this season. That’s a bargain for a player like Mullins, even with his 2021 All-Star campaign getting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. He has been roughly league-average at the plate over the past two seasons  (102 wRC+) while providing plenty of value on the bases (51-for-60 in stolen base attempts) and playing a premium defensive position. Different metrics disagree about his talents in center field, but ultimately, the versions of WAR at both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference agree he has been a valuable contributor. From 2023-24, Mullins compiled 4.2 fWAR and 5.3 bWAR. There’s a chance the Orioles would consider moving Mullins to a corner and giving Cowser the center field job; including college and the minors, Cowser has more experience in center field than any other position. Mullins and his league-average bat would be less valuable in a corner spot, but a $8.7MM salary would still be a team-friendly price for his services.

As for the final spot in the outfield, plenty of fans would love to see Santander back next season (and for several more to come), but it’s unclear how intently the Orioles will pursue the All-Star slugger in free agency. They will surely make him the qualifying offer, and he just as will surely decline. He is likely seeking a multi-year deal worth at least $20MM per season. General manager Mile Elias is hoping to increase payroll this winter in his first full offseason working under new owner David Rubenstein, but it’s unclear how much money he’ll have to work with. More to the point, Elias might prfer to spend the majority of his resources improving a pitching staff that finished 14th in MLB in ERA and 10th in FanGraphs WAR rather than an offense that finished fourth in runs scored and third in wRC+. Santander will be a big loss for the offense, but ace Corbin Burnes, another impending free agent, will be an even bigger departure for Elias to address. With all that said, the Orioles might stick with their internal options to replace Santander in 2025.

Baltimore would love for 25-year-old Heston Kjerstad to step up and fill that role. The lefty batter put up ludicrous numbers in the minors this past season, batting .300 with a .998 OPS and 152 wRC+ in 56 games at Triple-A. His big league numbers (.745 OPS, 116 wRC+ in 39 games) weren’t bad, especially not for a rookie, but some of the underlying metrics suggest he’s due for regression (.301 xwOBA compared to a .327 wOBA), and his 28.9% strikeout rate was concerningly high for a hitter who wasn’t showing off plus power or plate discipline. Moreover, his outfield defense wasn’t particularly impressive in a small sample size (-1 DRS, -1 FRV). Kjerstad has the tools to be a terrific player, but he’ll to take a step forward at the plate if he’s going to provide above-average value as a defensively-limited corner outfielder.

Another option to play some corner outfield for the Orioles next year could be Coby Mayo, who is currently the team’s top prospect according to Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. Throughout his brief professional career, Mayo has mostly played third base. Aside from his strong arm, however, he has never graded out as a top-notch defender at the hot corner. So, with Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg already entrenched in the Orioles’ infield and Jackson Holliday not going anywhere, Mayo’s future might need to be somewhere else. He has experience playing first base as well, and that could be his long-term position. But considering his terrific throwing arm, it makes sense that he would give the outfield a try. To that point, Elias recently suggested right field could be an option for the 22-year-old, though he made it clear the organization still views him as an infielder, and primarily a first baseman, going forward (per Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball).

Two more internal options to keep in mind are prospects Dylan Beavers and Enrique Bradfield Jr. Beavers, 23, is the team’s No. 5 prospect according to FanGraphs, No. 6 according to MLB Pipeline, and No. 7 according to Baseball America. He hit well enough at Double-A in 2024 (15 HR, 118 wRC+ in 119 games) to earn a brief promotion to Triple-A at the end of the season. He’s also a plus runner with the potential to be a capable big league center fielder. Bradfield, 22, is a few months younger and a little further away from the majors; he moved up from High-A to Double-A this past August. However, most sources agree he is the slightly more promising prospect. FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline have him at No. 4, while Baseball America has him at No. 6. He boasts 80-grade speed and has the skills to be an elite defensive center fielder. As for his bat, he has little power to speak of, so he’ll need to prove he can maintain his impressive bat-to-ball skills against tougher competition. Neither Beavers nor Bradfield needs protection from the Rule 5 draft this offseason, and neither is a likely candidate to make the Opening Day roster out of camp. However, their relative proximity to the majors could be a reason why the Orioles avoid signing a free agent outfielder to a multi-year deal.

Finally, the Orioles will have to decide whether or not to pick up Ryan O’Hearn’s $8MM club option for 2025. O’Hearn is primarily a first baseman and DH, but he played 27 games in the outfield last season. The 31-year-old slashed .264/.334/.427 with 15 home runs and a 119 wRC+ in 2024, good for 1.7 fWAR. If he can repeat that performance next season, an $8MM salary would be more than fair, but with Kjerstad and Mayo in need of playing time, the Orioles might prefer to spend that $8MM elsewhere.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Orioles Select Daniel Johnson, Option Coby Mayo

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The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Daniel Johnson from Triple-A Norfolk.  In the corresponding move, infielder Coby Mayo was optioned to Triple-A, as was reported earlier today by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link).

Johnson signed a minor league deal with the O’s during the offseason, and has delivered a solid .259/.320/.448 slash line and 21 homers over an even 500 plate appearances for Norfolk.  This production almost exactly matches his career numbers (.255/.324/.446) over 1542 Triple-A PA and even his minor league career as as whole, covering eight seasons in five different organizations.  Johnson’s only previous Major League experience consisted over 35 games with Cleveland over the 2020-21 seasons, and he has a .582 OPS over 94 PA in the bigs.

In adding Johnson, the Orioles add a bit of outfield depth amidst some uncertainty over Cedric Mullins’ status.  Mullins collided with teammate Austin Slater during Thursday’s game and then didn’t play yesterday due to neck discomfort.  Johnson has almost evenly split his time in the minors as a center fielder and right fielder, so he could step onto the O’s bench to help fill in should Mullins have to miss any more time.

Mayo has hit only .098/.196/.098 over his first 46 plate appearances in the majors, with four singles and four walks.  Almost half (22) of those plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts, and Mayo has looked overmatched by MLB pitching to date.  In the field, Mayo has mostly played third base to help fill the void left behind by the injured Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias, but he has also gotten a few looks at first base since Ryan Mountcastle has also been on the IL.

One of baseball’s top prospects, Mayo has now been twice optioned back to Triple-A since his contract was initially selected to the big league roster on August 2.  Baltimore initially sent Mayo down to the minors on August 15 before bringing him back on September 1 once rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players.  This second visit to the Show didn’t lead to any better results for Mayo, so he’ll return to Norfolk for the tail end of the minor league campaign.

As always, 46 plate appearances is far too small a sample size to cast judgement on Mayo’s future, and countless MLB stars have struggled in their first tastes of big league action.  While obviously the Orioles would’ve loved an early breakout, Mayo remains on the team’s radar for a larger role in 2025.  In the interim, with Baltimore heading for the playoffs and still gunning for the AL East title, optioning an infielder in Mayo could hint that Urias or Westburg are nearing a return from the injured list.

Orioles Recall Coby Mayo, Activate Zach Eflin

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11:48am: The Orioles have officially announced the return of both Eflin and Mayo, and have placed Urias on the 10-day IL with a right ankle sprain. Additionally, the club selected the contract of catcher David Banuelos from Triple-A and designated outfielder Forrest Wall for assignment to make room for him on the 40-man roster. Banuelos has spent most of the season at Triple-A after being outrighted to the minors back in April, while Wall was claimed off waivers from the Marlins just a few days ago but will now return to the waiver wire.

7:38am: Rosters expand from 26 to 28 today, meaning every team in baseball will get to call up an additional pitcher and an additional hitter as they begin play today. There’s little mystery about who those players will be for the Orioles, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Brandon Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that right-hander Zach Eflin will be activated from the 15-day Injured List to start today’s game against the Rockies this afternoon. Earlier in the day, Weyrich reported that top infield prospect Coby Mayo was poised to join the club as their additional hitter when rosters expanded today.

It will be the second taste of big league action for Mayo, 22. The youngster got his feet wet in the majors earlier this month with a brief cup of coffee that lasted only seven games and 20 at-bats, and he hit just .059 without an extra-base hit in that brief stint at the big league level before being optioned back to the minors. His sensational .293/.369/.574 slash line at the Triple-A level this season has left him with nothing more to prove in the minor leagues, however, so Mayo now figures to get a more extended opportunity to prove himself in the big leagues as fellow rookie Jackson Holliday has. Holliday struggled badly in his first ten games in the majors back in April but has looked better since returning to the majors the day after the trade deadline with a .218/.275/.426 slash line that’s good for a roughly league average 98 wRC+.

As for Eflin, the veteran right-hander came over to Baltimore in a trade with the Rays prior to the deadline. After posting strong enough numbers last year to finish sixth in the AL Cy Young award race, the right-hander took a step back with Tampa last year, posting a pedestrian 4.09 ERA in 19 starts despite a solid 3.68 FIP. Things changed when Eflin got to Baltimore, however, and in four starts after the swap the righty looked nothing short of excellent with a 2.13 ERA and a 24.5% strikeout rate in 25 2/3 innings of work. Eflin has been sidelined in recent weeks by a bout of shoulder inflammation, but it seems now he’s healthy enough to return to action. The Orioles are surely counting on the righty to help keep afloat a beleaguered rotation that also lost Grayson Rodriguez to the injured list in the month of August.

While Mayo and Eflin were both expected to be the club’s extra players following roster expansion, it’s possible after last night’s game that two more spots on the roster could open up today as both right-hander Dean Kremer and infielder Ramon Urias exited due to injuries yesterday. Kremer was struck by a comebacker in the fourth inning yesterday and exited with a right forearm contusion, with Manny Randhawa of MLB.com among those to relay the news that Kremer’s initial x-rays came back negative. As noted by Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner, both he and Urias, who who suffered a sprained ankle after also narrowly avoiding injury when struck in the face by a pitch earlier in the game, figure to be evaluated further today to see if either player will require a stint on the injured list.

The planned returns of Eflin and Mayo to the roster coincidentally figure to cover for the losses of Kremer in the rotation and Urias at third base in the short term, but if either player requires a stint on the injured list the team will likely need to deep into its depth in order to fill out the roster. Deadline addition Trevor Rogers is on the 40-man roster and could return to the rotation is Kremer misses time, though he was optioned after posting a disastrous 7.11 ERA in his first four starts as an Oriole. On the positional side, meanwhile, non-roster veterans like J.D. Davis or Jean Segura could provide infield depth for the club if Urias ends up going on the shelf.

Orioles Option Coby Mayo

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Top Orioles prospect Coby Mayo will see his initial taste of the majors draw to a close after just seven games and 20 plate appearances. Baltimore announced Thursday that Mayo has been optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk. Infielder Livan Soto was recalled from Norfolk in his place.

Mayo, regarded as one of the top prospects not just in Baltimore’s system but in all of baseball, was called up shortly after third baseman Jordan Westburg suffered a fractured hand when he was hit by a pitch. Expectations were high, considering his prominent placement on national prospect rankings and his gaudy .301/.375/.586 batting line through 341 Triple-A plate appearances during just his age-22 season. However, like fellow top prospect Jackson Holliday before him, Mayo stumbled out of the gate with a strikeout-laden showing and was sent back to Triple-A in fairly short order. He went just 1-for-17 with three walks and 10 strikeouts in those 20 trips to the plate.

There’s no sense in making any long-term judgment on Mayo based on a tough week in his first glimpse of the majors. Many detractors were quick to write Holliday off after similar early struggles, and he’s returned from Norfolk with a .255/.314/.596 line and five home runs in 51 plate appearances. Twenty ugly plate appearances don’t say anything about Mayo’s long-term future other than that he might yet need a bit more work in the upper minors before he gets his next big league audition.

In sending Mayo back to Norfolk, the O’s seem to be committing to Ramon Urias as the primary third baseman in Westburg’s absence — although Soto could also see some run at the hot corner. The Orioles could also retain Mayo’s prospect/rookie status for the 2025 season as well, which would put them in position to potentially land a draft pick if he finishes well enough in ’25 Rookie of the Year voting. So long as Mayo finishes with fewer than 130 at-bats and fewer than 45 days on the active roster, he’ll still be eligible for that benefit. If that were a primary concern for them, they likely wouldn’t have brought Mayo to the big leagues in the first place, but retaining that possibility is now surely seen as an ancillary benefit of today’s move.

Urias, 30, seems likeliest to garner additional playing time. He drew sensational defensive marks at third base just two seasons ago, but both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have soured on his glovework at the position. At the plate, Urias has turned in a .236/.306/.372 slash at the plate this season, sitting about 5% worse than league-average overall (by measure of wRC+).

As for Soto, he’s hit extremely well in a small sample of 74 plate appearances, batting .358/.397/.507 dating back to 2022. It should be emphasized that his line is propped up by a gargantuan .451 average on balls in play that he won’t sustain, and Soto has a much more modest track record in Triple-A, where he’s hit .267/.364/.386 in 709 plate appearances as a utilityman.

Orioles Promote Coby Mayo

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Aug. 2: The O’s formally announced Mayo’s promotion. Infielder Livan Soto was optioned to Norfolk to open a spot on the active roster. Baltimore’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Aug. 1: Top prospect Coby Mayo is joining the Orioles, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (X link). The 22-year-old will be making his MLB debut. Mayo is not yet on the 40-man roster but the O’s have an opening, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding active roster transaction.

Baltimore took Mayo out of high school in the fourth round of the truncated 2020 draft. He signed for an above slot $1.75MM bonus and has ripped through minor league pitching at every level. The 6’5″, 230-pound corner infielder had pushed his way towards the top of a loaded O’s system by the start of the 2022 campaign. He had good but not elite numbers as a 20-year-old between High-A and Double-A that season.

A monster showing in the upper minors last year vaulted Mayo to the top of the overall league prospect rankings. He hit .307/.424/.603 with 17 homers in 78 games for Double-A Bowie. The O’s bumped him to Triple-A Norfolk late last season. Mayo responded with an excellent .267/.393/.512 slash across 62 contests.

Mayo entered the year as a top 30 minor league talent in the eyes of most evaluators. He has done all he can to reinforce that acclaim with another excellent year in Norfolk. Mayo has popped 20 homers over 335 plate appearances. He’s hitting .294/.370/.581 with a strong 10.1% walk rate. While his 24.5% strikeout percentage is a bit higher than average, it’s not a major concern for one of the best power-hitting prospects in the league.

The righty-hitting Mayo is tied for fourth in the International League in home runs. Among 83 hitters with 300+ plate appearances, he leads the league in slugging percentage. Mayo is 10th among that group in average and 25th in on-base percentage despite being one of the league’s youngest hitters.

Mayo ranks as the sport’s #12 prospect at Baseball America and FanGraphs. Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Mayo 18th on his recent update of the sport’s top 60 prospects. All three outlets have him as either the #2 or #3 player in the Baltimore system. He’s behind Jackson Holliday and alongside catcher Samuel Basallo at the top of an organization that is still loaded with high-end young talent.

BA and FanGraphs each credit Mayo with 70-grade power (plus-plus) on the 20-80 scouting scale. FanGraphs writes that Mayo could be susceptible to strikeouts early in his MLB career, but evaluators generally feel he shouldn’t have any problem getting to his impact power while drawing plenty of walks.

Mayo’s defense is more of a question. He has played exclusively on the corner infield in his minor league career. The vast majority of that experience has come at third base. Most scouting reports peg him as a fringe-average defender there despite excellent arm strength. FanGraphs’ report suggests Mayo may be best suited moving off the position to right field, but the O’s have not given him any outfield work in the minors.

He’ll break into the majors as a third baseman. Baltimore lost Jordan Westburg to a broken hand yesterday. The O’s have yet to provide a clear timeline on the All-Star’s return, yet he’s certainly in for a lengthy absence. Baltimore played Ramón Urías at the hot corner today. With Urías hitting a league average .244/.318/.381 in 195 plate appearances, they’ll turn to Mayo in the hope that the youngster provides above-average offense right out of the gate.

That’s no guarantee for any prospect, as Holliday’s struggles after his first big league call demonstrated early in the season. Yet there’s nothing more for Mayo to prove in the minors, as he now owns a .283/.380/.552 slash with 36 doubles and 32 homers in 602 career Triple-A plate appearances (the equivalent of one full season). Mayo would probably have gotten a look by now if he were in most other organizations. The O’s have such an impressive collection of infielders that they could afford to wait for him to comprehensively dominate minor league pitching.

Baltimore fans can dream on a future infield comprising Mayo, Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Westburg from right to left. For now, Mayo will stick at the hot corner with Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn continuing to share first base and designated hitter. Urías should kick into a utility role which could bump recent trade pickup Livan Soto to Norfolk.

Barring a herculean start to his MLB career that earns him a top two finish in Rookie of the Year balloting, Mayo will not get a full service year this season. The O’s control him through at least the 2030 campaign; he won’t reach arbitration until the 2027-28 offseason. If Baltimore options him back to the minors at any point, that could delay his path to arbitration and free agency.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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