CLEVELAND — After Jackson Holliday learned of his promotion to the big leagues in April, he texted his friends in a group chat.

“One down, four to go.”

The other four in the chat — Heston Kjerstad, Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby and Coby Mayo — held up their end of the bargain, each being called up to Baltimore at different times this season. Two of the members of the “Norfolk Five,” the top prospects with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, are no longer in the organization — Norby and Stowers were traded to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday — and Kjerstad is now back with the Tides after his demotion Thursday.

It’s up to Holliday and Mayo now, both in Baltimore together, to represent the group and stick in the show. They are the Orioles’ two youngest players, but they might be among their most important down the stretch.

Holliday, 20, and Mayo, 22, have taken a combined 52 MLB plate appearances after the latter’s debut Friday, but if the Orioles want to reach their goals this season, the pair will likely have to live up to their top prospect status.

“Hopefully they can help us,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “It’s a really healthy farm system that we have. … We follow them very closely and take a lot of pride in what our guys have done in the system and the organizational rankings and all those things. Not all the time it translates to the major league level, but we believe in their ability and we feel like it’s going to.”

But the Orioles need the young duo — whose combined age is eight years younger than Hyde at 50 years old — to do more than “help.”

With Jordan Westburg and Jorge Mateo out for at least the majority of the season’s final two months, Baltimore needs Mayo and Holliday to provide value in their stead. With the Orioles’ offensive inconsistency rearing its ugly head in recent weeks, the club needs the top prospects — Holliday No. 2 in the sport, Mayo No. 12, according to Baseball America — to provide offensive value despite barely seeing MLB-caliber pitching. And with the team in a slide — winners of five of their past 13, a 12-16 mark since June 30 and a .500 record since June 5 — the Orioles might need them to be impact players to make a postseason run.

“They’re really talented guys. We’re hoping the talent can rise up,” Hyde said. “This is a really, really tough game to play, especially at this level, especially at this time of year with pressure and everything that goes along with it. Hopefully these guys can just relax and let their talent take over.”

Holliday and Mayo did “relax” before Friday’s game, spending a bit of time playing an arcade game that’s in the visiting clubhouse at the Guardians’ Progressive Field. They were teammates just four days ago with Norfolk, and they’re both grateful they’re able to experience these early days in the show together.

“It definitely makes it more exciting to be able to be up here with him and kind of watch everything unfold,” Holliday said.

“He’s a special player, a really good teammate,” Mayo said. “[He’s] someone I can always rely on to talk to about hitting and fielding and just outside of baseball life, because baseball isn’t the only thing that is in my life. Sometimes, you just need to talk to somebody. He’s a friend I can go to and talk to.”

Mayo was the last of the “Norfolk Five” to receive the call, and he said watching his friends get their shots was motivating for him to one day get there, too.

“We all pushed each other a little bit to get better,” he said. “It was a real fun group, we had a lot of fun. Quickly guys were getting called up, and you wanted it to be you next.”

Mayo, a third baseman, went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and two impressive walks in his debut Friday, an 8-4 loss to the MLB-best Guardians. There’s no way to know how the 6-foot-5 slugger will adjust to the majors, but if any prospect can make a quick adjustment, it could very well be him.

He was putting up eye-popping numbers in Triple-A with a .301/.375/.586 slash line for a .962 OPS. In 77 games, he totaled 22 doubles and an International League-best 20 homers with 61 RBIs. Mayo’s power is considered his best tool, but his teammates are impressed with how he’s developed his hit tool — remaining patient at the plate and smacking singles to all parts of the field while also doing damage.

Holliday’s first stint in the majors didn’t go as planned. He was on the Orioles’ roster for only 16 days and went 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts to earn a demotion back to the minors. He was far from the only Orioles prospect to scuffle early in the big leagues.

Adley Rutschman hit .176 with a .513 OPS in his first 20 games after his promotion in May 2022. Gunnar Henderson hit .170 in his first 100 at-bats to begin the 2023 season. Colton Cowser was chewed up and spit out by big league pitching, hitting just .115 in his first 26 games last summer before he was optioned. Grayson Rodriguez posted a 7.35 ERA in his first 10 starts before he was sent back down last spring.

All of them figured it out, though, and are among the Orioles’ most important players. Holliday could be on his way to doing the same as he’s looked much better at the plate in his three games back with the Orioles. The club’s hope for Mayo is that he doesn’t have similar growing pains or can work through them the way Rutschman and Henderson did.

“You hope that he gets off to a good start and plays well, but you really never know, honestly,” Hyde said. “The Triple-A level to the major league level is not even close, not in the same atmosphere — or universe. The level is so much different. The pitching he’s going to face, the speed of the game, third deck, fourth deck at times. It’s a way different game.”