Another top Orioles prospect is getting the call to the majors.
The Orioles will select the contract of infielder Coby Mayo on Friday ahead of their game against the Cleveland Guardians, a source with direct knowledge of the move told The Baltimore Sun, two days after third baseman Jordan Westburg fractured his right hand on a hit by pitch Wednesday. Mayo’s first appearance will be his major league debut.
“It can happen any day,” Mayo said in early July of getting the call to the majors. “It can happen in a week or two weeks or a month, two months, I don’t know. Just taking it a day at a time because it could happen at any minute and I want to be as prepared as possible.”
Mayo, 22, is the No. 12 overall prospect on Baseball America’s top 100 rankings, trailing only the recently recalled Jackson Holliday (No. 2) among Orioles prospects and sitting five spots ahead of Samuel Basallo. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Mayo has spent most of his minor league career at third base but has also appeared in 48 games at first base over the past two seasons.
Power is the leading trait in Mayo’s profile, and it’s shown through in 2024 as he’s slugged 20 home runs with 61 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk. Despite missing a month with a fractured rib after he fell into the third base dugout on May 16 trying to make a catch in foul territory, Mayo has been one of the most prolific hitters in the minors this season. He joins Baltimore slashing .301/.375/.586 in 77 games with the Tides.
“He is in an exceptionally good spot and we talk about him all the time,” executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said of Mayo ahead of the All-Star break. “He’s very close. He’s going to help us this year. It’s just going to be about the right moment and the right opportunity and the right runway.”
Mayo was the Orioles’ fourth-round pick in 2020 out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, where he was a student at the time of the 2018 school shooting that killed 17 people and injured 17 others. He was part of the Orioles’ 2020 draft class that also produced young standouts Heston Kjerstad and Westburg.
Though he was committed to the University of Florida, Mayo agreed to a $1.75 million signing bonus with the Orioles — nearly $1.2 million above slot value and well above average for a fourth-round pick. The Orioles were able to sign Mayo because they drafted Kjerstad, a surprise pick at No. 2 overall, who signed for more than $2 million less than his slot value of $7.79 million after three years at Arkansas.
Westburg, the 30th overall selection, signed for his full slot value of $2.37 million.
Since the start of his professional career was slowed by the pandemic and a 2021 knee injury, Mayo’s raw power has helped him rocket through Baltimore’s farm system. He reached Double-A as a 20-year-old in 2022 with solid numbers but took off last year, hitting 17 home runs in 78 games with Bowie before translating that power over to Norfolk with another 12 long balls in 62 games to finish the year strong.
He earned an invitation to major league spring training for the second straight season this year and impressed with a .360/.448/.560 slash line in 23 Grapefruit League games before being among the team’s final roster cuts at the end of camp. After showing his 2023 campaign was no fluke with a strong start to this season with the Tides, Mayo now has the chance to become the latest top Orioles prospect to carve out a place in the majors.
“It definitely gave me a little boost coming into the season,” Mayo said of his strong spring. “Whenever you can go up there and impress a little bit and have success against those big league pitchers, it kind of relieves your thoughts of struggling at first here because you always want to go off to a good start in Triple-A and build your case early. So, I was really happy with it and I like my start so far this year.”
Mayo will join Holliday and Connor Norby as the third Orioles position player prospect to make his MLB debut this season. Prospects such as Norby, Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers have struggled to stick in the majors this season with opportunities for everyday at-bats scarce on a roster competing for the American League East crown.
However, Norby and Stowers were both traded to the Miami Marlins at the deadline Tuesday.
Between their departures and Westburg’s injury, Mayo should have an opportunity to play third base regularly down the stretch.
MASNSports.com was the first to report Mayo was being called up to the majors.