Since March 11 when I was involved in a car accident in Bradenton, Fla., on my way to dinner, this season has turned to crap … both for me and for my club I follow, the Baltimore Orioles.
I won’t go into detail on my accident, but I can go into detail about all that has gone wrong for the Orioles since early March.
Gunnar Henderson missed most of camp with a right intercostal strain. Grayson Rodriguez hasn’t been able to go to the post since last July. Anthony Santander’s replacement, Tyler O’Neill, has either been ineffective or hurt. And then there were the injuries to Andrew Kittredge, Albert Suárez and Jordan Westburg. The list goes on and on.
All of this has led to a kind of miserable season, sprinkled here and there with a dash of hope.
Needless to say, Brandon Hyde had the worst season of all, losing his job on Preakness Day.
In a semi-lost season, it seems the objective isn’t to give up on that season but rather to use what remains of that season to gain as many answers as you can regarding the players you have in your system and where they might be able to help you in the near term.
One of those players for me is Coby Mayo. I have long been a Mayo fan and a believer in his talent — not just from looking at his numbers on a stat sheet but from the three times I saw him play at High-A Aberdeen and what was then Double-A Bowie.
On all three occasions, Mayo didn’t disappoint. He hit home runs both times I saw him at Aberdeen and hit two bombs when I saw him at Bowie. It wasn’t just that I saw him hit four homers. I heard and saw him hit four prodigious homers. I mention hearing them because the noise a Mayo homer makes has a very different sound to it than a Cedric Mullins or Adley Rutschman homer. These were moon shots with a sound at launch time that I have rarely heard.
Having said that, I have been more than mildly disappointed in Mayo’s production at the big league level. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound corner infielder is hitting .167/.237/.233 with 44 strikeouts and 10 walks in 131 big league plate appearances. His one home run was hit off Jose Caballero, who had come in to pitch from his shortstop position in what would eventually be a 22-8 Orioles win.
I bring this up not to bash Mayo but rather the way the club has chosen to handle him to date. He appeared in 17 games last season, hitting .098 with 22 strikeouts and four walks. Just 22 at the time, it wasn’t shocking. Young players struggle all the time in their first try at the big leagues — and even in their second or third.
Take a look at Brady Anderson. He debuted in 1988 but didn’t establish himself as an everyday ballplayer until 1992. It wasn’t until Johnny Oates told Anderson heading into the ’92 season that he was going to play every day. That commitment paid off for the next dozen seasons.
I get that it’s much easier to afford a player like Anderson that opportunity because the ’91 Orioles gave no indication that ’92 meant anything more than the opening of Camden Yards.
Look at the late Rich Dauer, who hit .103/.156/.103 (4-for-39) when he first came up in 1976. Earl Weaver started the ’77 season with Dauer and was rewarded with a 1-for-41 start.
I bring this up in large part by what I have seen of former Orioles top prospect Kyle Stowers. Yes, the National League All-Star who hit three homers against his old team on July 13.
Now consider how the Orioles are doling out playing time to Mayo. Does that remind you of the way they yo-yo’d Stowers without a clear plan of how to help him stick at the big league level?
Stowers flashed his ability when he first came up in 2022 (.253/.306/.418 with three homers in 98 plate appearances) but struggled mightily in a small sample in 2023 (2-for-33). He had a big camp in 2024 to re-enter the roster picture. I personally saw him hit several home runs and look comfortable against left-handed pitching down in Sarasota.
When the club announced Jackson Holliday was not going to make the Opening Day roster, it looked like Stowers would be a shoo-in to come north. Instead, Mike Elias opted for an extra infielder, picking up Tony Kemp and sending Stowers down. Stowers came up for a couple short stints but spent most of his time in Triple-A Norfolk essentially waiting to be traded.
Stowers may be a better player than Heston Kjerstad. He may be a far better player than Tyler O’Neill. He just may be a more solid all-around player than Colton Cowser.
If I squint my eyes looking at Mayo, I am not sure what I see now. The Orioles shouldn’t squander the opportunity to see what Mayo can do almost every day out of a sense of duty to pursue faint wild-card hopes. I’d tell him he’s going to play every day, not just against left-handed pitching.
Playing Mayo every day allows the Orioles to find out what he’s worth. Let’s hope they figure out how to find his worth before he is destroying pitching in another uniform.
Photo Credits: Kenya Allen/PressBox