Former Angels Infielder Steps in As MLB's No. 10 Prospect is Demoted

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 16, 2024

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles are sending baseball's No. 10-ranked prospect, Coby Mayo, to Triple-A Norfolk and recalling former Los Angeles Angels Livan Soto.

Soto has been part of 23 separate transactions this season and has appeared in one major league game this season. It was with the Cincinnati Reds and he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

The Orioles called up Livan Soto today. He has had an absolutely insane season.

Been in the Angels org twice. The Orioles three seperate times, and up and down with the Reds several times.

Here's his full transaction history since the spring. pic.twitter.com/1zY8YRstL7

— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) August 15, 2024

He will provide Baltimore with more depth in the middle infield but has limited big-league playing time. In two seasons with the Angels, he appeared in 22 games with the most in action coming in 2022. He played in 18 games that season batting .400 with five doubles, one triple, one home run, and nine runs batted in. In 55 at-bats, Soto struck out 13 times and walked twice.

The #Orioles have recalled INF Livan Soto from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned INF Coby Mayo to Norfolk.
It’s not always a straight line.

— David Hall (@DavidHallVP) August 15, 2024

Mayo struggled following his debut, going 1-for-17 in his first stint in the major leagues. He didn't get his first career hit until Wednesday against Washington but it was too little too late as the Orioles optioned him back to the minors on Thursday.

Mayo dominated minor league pitching this season before getting his call up on Aug. 2. He showcased tremendous power with 20 home runs in 77 games. The power deflated and his offense disappeared almost completely with Baltimore hitting .059 with 10 strikeouts in 20 plate appearances.

“This coaching staff and this organization as a whole has done a great job throughout the minor leagues preparing us for this moment,” Mayo said Thursday of being the latest Orioles prospect to get off to a slow start. “Struggling comes with every level. If you don’t struggle at first, you’re going to struggle at some point and hopefully, this is the right step forward and it gets me going.”

While the Orioles would have loved to see Mayo succeed early, they have experience with similar players like Jackson Holliday and Colton Cowser.

“You really try to show what you can do given the situation that you’re put in,” Cowser said of going through his own struggles in his first MLB stint. “And sometimes, you can get out of your element and get out of your game. I was told this last year, it’s never a bad thing to come up to the big leagues and experience a little bit of failure. What did he have, like 16, 17 at-bats? I have all the faith in the world.”