Baltimore Orioles Star Prospect Progressing in Injury Recovery

After a very untimely injury, it looks like one of the Baltimore Orioles' star prospects is getting closer to returning after he's hitting an important progression in his recovery.

Mar 16, 2024; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles infielder Coby Mayo (86) singles during the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles have plenty of talented prospects in their pipeline who are on the verge of being Major League Baseball players.

Many of these prospects would have already gotten an opportunity to showcase what they can do for an extended period of time, but with this roster being set up to win now, there isn't a whole lot of leeway for their current minor leaguers to play.

Perhaps there's no better example of that than when looking at their star third baseman Coby Mayo.

Ranked as the Orioles' No. 3 overall prospect and 20th-best in all of baseball, the 22-year-old has yet to appear in an MLB game despite tearing up Triple-A during his 104 games at that level.

The power hitter projects to be an important piece of this roster moving forward when his defense develops to the point where Baltimore's coaching staff feels comfortable enough to promote him. There's not a lot of doubt in people's minds that he'll become an incredible hitter when called up, but he hasn't been able to showcase that, even in a limited sample size, like others in their farm system.

However, when the Orioles' offense was struggling a bit earlier in the month, there was some thought they might finally turn to Mayo and give him a chance in The Show.

Unfortunately, the star prospect fractured his rib on May 16 when colliding into the dugout, forcing him to be placed onto the minor league injured list.

The timing couldn't have been worse for both parties as this was a great opportunity for Baltimore to finally see what the youngster could do and for Mayo to get called up and face elite pitching.

Good news is that he's progressing in his rehab recovery.

Roch Kubatko of MASN reports Mayo is "is expected to begin swinging a bat next week."

Hopefully he's able to do that level of activity without any pain or setbacks so he can get back to facing live pitching and return to the field when he's cleared.