Baltimore Orioles Star Prospect Given Direction for How to Get Back in MLB

The path for one of the Baltimore Orioles star prospects to get back into the Majors is now clear after his first stint.

Mar 2, 2024; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles infielder Coby Mayo (86) looks on during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the year, it felt like just about every Baltimore Orioles fan was clamoring for them to promote star prospect Coby Mayo to the Majors.

Continuing to dominate in Triple-A, fans wanted to see what he could do in The Show alongside many of their other recent graduates who have turned into household names of their own.

Eventually, they got their wish.

Mayo was called up on Aug. 2 to make his highly-anticipated debut. They were hoping this would bring an element of pop to the lineup that was missing after breakout star Jordan Westburg went down with his injury.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as anyone planned.

Similar to what Jackson Holliday experienced during his first stint, Mayo had a hard time adjusting at the plate, going hitless in his first 15 at-bats with 10 strikeouts.

But after he finally got his first Major League hit on Aug. 14, the Orioles decided it was best to send him back down to the minors, ending his first stint in the bigs with a fizzle.

"The gap between Triple-A and the big leagues is huge right now. Just the quality of arms that you see nightly up there, there's no real days off. You look down here, those guys are throwing 88 miles an hour down here. Everybody's throwing 96 up there, or 100. They have better command. They command the baseball with that stuff, so it's a big gap," Triple-A manager Buck Britton told David Hall of The Baltimore Sun.

For a talent like Mayo, he's in a different position than others who are perennial minor league players.

There's no doubt he'll get another opportunity with Baltimore, the only question is whether that comes this season when the team is in the middle of a division race and are fighting for playoff positioning, or if they wait until 2025.

As it looks right now, it's probably the latter.

Mayo didn't just struggle at the plate, he looked a little lost playing third base at the Major League level, something that was always a concern of the organization when they were weighing the option to call him up or not.

So, with the 22-year-old back in the minors after his first taste of the MLB, he has been given a direction on what to work on before getting promoted again.

"... Mayo was sent back to work on his defense and use more of the field with his bat. He's focusing on simplifying his load at the plate and, he said, 'just trying to polish up some things,'" Hall reported.

Now that he has something to work on with a goal in mind, that should help him become better prepared for when he does get recalled by the Orioles, much like Holliday, who has popped in a major way during his second stint in The Show.

Mayo is still a huge part of Baltimore's plans for the future.

He'll look to work on the things that overwhelmed him during his time in the MLB, giving him a chance to live up to his potential that has fans excited about what he can do.