It’s been a bit of a struggle for Orioles infield prospect Coby Mayo since he was promoted to Double-A Bowie.
Mayo, 20, was promoted to Bowie in late June after hitting .250/.326/.479 with High-A Aberdeen. But the 6-foot-5, 215-pound third baseman hit the injured list with back spasms after only three games with the Baysox, forcing him to miss nearly a month of action. He returned to Bowie Aug. 9 after rehab stints in the Florida Complex League and with Aberdeen.
Mayo is hitting .184/.259/.265 with just two extra-base hits in 54 plate appearances for the Baysox, marking the first time he has struggled in pro ball since debuting in the FCL in 2021. He understands it is all part of the process.
“You’re going to struggle. You’re playing [100-plus] games in a season. There are going to be times when you struggle,” Mayo said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 18. “I think the best players just get out of those struggles a little bit faster than everybody else. I accept it sometimes. Yeah, I’m going to struggle. Gunnar Henderson’s going to struggle at times. Jordan Westburg’s going to struggle at times. It’s going to happen.”
Mayo noted that the promotion meant he is facing unfamiliar pitchers in a new environment. Double-A pitchers are shying away from challenging him with fastballs, instead feeding him a steady diet of breaking balls and changeups. He has struck out 19 times and walked just four times with Bowie thus far.
“I’ve been doing better with it, but they’re still not going to give me what I’m looking for because they see the numbers. They know what I do well against,” Mayo said. “They know what I don’t do as well with. I think this season is my best off-speed hitting season in my life. I have maybe half my homers off of off-speed pitches, but I’m still getting them because they don’t want to throw me what I’m looking for, which is a fastball. But I’m making those adjustments in the box because that’s what I’m going to get.”
Mayo recently checked in as the No. 45 overall prospect in ESPN baseball insider Kiley McDaniel’s midseason top 50 prospects, and it’s easy to see why. Mayo has mashed 54 extra-base hits in 564 pro plate appearances entering play Aug. 23, showing off the power typical of a corner infielder. And at 6-foot-5, he certainly looks the part of a major leaguer.
The biggest question for Mayo has been where he ends up on the diamond defensively. Mayo has the arm strength to play right field and would present a big target at first base … but not so fast on moving off the hot corner, so says the South Florida native.
“I think a lot of people just look at the internet and will look at what people say and say that I’m not a third baseman or that I don’t move well or I don’t do this well,” Mayo said. “But until you actually come to the field and watch me play — and you can judge me off of that — people get caught up in all these reports that people say that have never watched me play.”
While Double-A has presented a challenge for Mayo, the same can’t necessarily be said for fellow infielder Connor Norby, who is hitting .278/.374/.509 with nine homers since being promoted to Bowie. Norby has credited the offensive environment at Prince George’s Stadium for helping him unlock his power, and now Norby has 17 homers on the year, one of the top marks in the entire organization.
Mayo has 15 homers on the year and would like to beat out his roommate by season’s end.
“People talk about my power, but that kid has more homers than I do and he’s about 6, 7 inches smaller than me,” Mayo said. “He’s a ballplayer. He’s a great kid, great teammate. He wants to get better every day. He’s always working on stuff. I think he just gets flown under the radar a little bit, but I’ll let you know he’s not going to beat me in home runs.”
• See Also: Orioles Prospect Coby Mayo On Working Out With Anthony Rizzo
For more from Mayo, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Peyton Stoike