Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Overwhelms Minor League Pitching to Win Honor

Coby Mayo has been up and down with the Baltimore Orioles all season.

In the Majors, he hasn’t been productive with a slash line of .098/.196/.098/.294. The Orioles sent him back to Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday.

With the Tides this season, he’s been one of the most impressive bats in the system and, for that work, Baseball America named him the Baltimore Orioles prospect of the year.

In 93 games in the minors, he showed what his bat can truly become at the Major League level, with a slash line of .293/.372/.592/.964 with 25 home runs and 73 RBI. He spent four of those games with High-A Aberdeen on a rehab assignment in July.

After the graduations of prospects like infielder Jackson HollidayMayo is now considered the organization’s No. 1 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.

Mayo made his MLB debut on Aug. 2 with Baltimore, thanks to injuries in the infield. He was sent back to Norfolk on Aug. 15 and recalled on Sept. 1 when rosters expanded to 28 players.

Baseball America spoke to Baltimore’s farm director, Anthony Villa, about Mayo’s development this season.

“He’s just continued being this superstar in the minor leagues for us,” illa said. “Any challenge that pops up, he works pretty diligently at and finds a way to problem-solve and continue being an elite player. He did that on both sides of the ball this year with Norfolk.”

He started the season at Triple-A Norfolk for the first time and in 42 games and he was impressive, slashing .291/.359/.605 with 11 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs and 37 RBIs.

He built up to a full-time spot in Norfolk with an impressive 2023, where he split his time between Norfolk and Double-A Bowie. In 140 games he slashed .290/.410/.563/.973 with 29 home runs and 99 RBI.

Mayo was the Orioles’ fourth-round pick in 2020 out of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., He wasn’t able to start his pro career until 2021, but now the 22-year-old is closing in on making it to the Majors.

Baltimore could also have the American League Rookie of the Year for the second straight year with outfielder Colton Cowser, who joined the Orioles in early April and has been a consistent offensive force all season.

Gunnar Henderson won the award last year and is tracking toward being a candidate to win the AL MVP award, if he can overcome the leading candidates, Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr.

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