Ryan Mountcastle returned from a two-month absence on Aug. 8 with a bang, crushing a J.T. Ginn slider to straightaway center field for a home run in his first at-bat back. He trotted through the dugout for his first “Homer Hose” sip since April 30.
That game began an important final 47-game stretch of Mountcastle’s campaign. The 2015 first-round pick is eligible for arbitration for the final time in 2026, but first, he’s looking to improve upon a sluggish start to 2025. The blast gave hope he will.
“He kind of took the time to try to figure out how to get back to his old form,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “He knows these are an important two months for him.”
Mountcastle, 28, endured the longest injured list stint of his major league career — probably the worst injury he’s ever dealt with, he said. He broke his hand in the minor leagues in 2018, but that kept him out less than two months.
A hamstring injury caused him to miss 59 games this time, unable to play as the Orioles trudged toward a full sell-off at the trade deadline.
“When you hear you’re going to be gone for a while, it’s tough,” Mountcastle said. “Just trying to stay mentally strong and do whatever you can to just get back out on the field and be productive.”
Mountcastle used the break to work through his swing, making necessary adjustments to return stronger. He didn’t do anything “too crazy” with his swing, instead changing his mentality to hone in on the right pitches to hit. The lone physical tweak was getting his foot down quicker to get ready in the box earlier.
In the 52 games before he went on the injured list, Mountcastle hit .246/.280/.348 and posted a career-worst chase percentage. However, he was 7-for-12 in the three games leading up to the injury. Since coming back, Mountcastle has gone 4-for-17 with two home runs. He also nearly hit a walk-off home run against Mariners All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz, but it narrowly stayed foul.
Mountcastle has mostly served as the designated hitter since coming back. That’s by design. With Ryan O’Hearn departing at the trade deadline, the everyday first base spot opened for Coby Mayo.
The 23-year-old is Baltimore’s potential first baseman of the future, and given his transition from third base, the organization wants to give him as much playing time as possible at first. Mansolino said he doesn’t see “the third base thing happening.”
Mountcastle is earning $6.8 million this year. The Orioles will have to decide in the offseason whether to give him a raise or move on.
“Mounty knows with where he’s at in terms of arbitration and everything going on, he knows he’s got to hit,” Mansolino said. “So for him, yeah he would love to play first base — and he’s really good at it — but just to have the ability to focus on his hitting right now is going to help him more so than anything.”
The relationship with Mayo and Mountcastle is similar to the latter’s with Trey Mancini, who played for the Orioles from 2016-2022. Mancini was an established right-handed-hitting first baseman, outfielder and designated hitter as Mountcastle found his way in the major leagues.
Mountcastle said he wants to become a mentor for Mayo.
“I feel like we have a lot of similarities in the type of players we are … I see a lot of myself in him,” Mountcastle said. “He’s a great player. I’m super excited to help him.”
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