Baltimore Orioles Star Rookie Reveals His Feelings About First Career Hit

It took a while, but one of the Baltimore Orioles star rookies has now gotten his first career Major League hit.

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

As the Baltimore Orioles underwent their complete rebuild, they were able to foster the best farm system in the sport by drafting elite prospects, developing them at a high level, and taking on some reclamation projects who turned into key pieces.

Over the years, the anticipation continued to grow as their top minor leaguers climbed through their pipeline.

Some of their most highly-touted prospects finally got called up to the MLB, giving fans an idea of what the future of this franchise might look like for the next decade.

However, there was still one player who was being stashed in Triple-A.

Despite putting up fantastic numbers in the minors when hitting for both average and power, Coby Mayo was one of the last ones to earn a promotion to The Show. That ended when the Orioles finally called him up for his anticipated debut on August 2.

Like others that came before him, the 22-year-old has struggled in his first stint.

Mayo was held hitless through his first six games, looking overwhelmed at the plate with 10 strikeouts across his 15 at-bats, while also struggling a bit at third base defensively.

But on Wednesday, he was finally able to get his first Major League hit when he ripped a single to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning.

First Major League hit in his Camden Yards debut! pic.twitter.com/qSGNrhKdW7

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 14, 2024

And while Mayo said he wasn't nervous about not recording a hit before that moment, he certainly felt some sort of emotions when that ball dropped fair.

"A sigh of relief, for sure. I was never too stressed about the hit. But then, it gets to you a little bit and you want it. You want it so bad because you're so competitive. And then, you get that first hit ... Hopefully, this is the right step forward and this can keep going," he said per Roch Kubatko of MASN.

There are plenty of players on Baltimore's roster who have recently experienced what Mayo was dealing with before getting his first hit. They also know what comes after accomplishing something for the first time in the big leagues.

"He can breathe now," veteran pitcher Dean Kremer said. "Everybody's happy for him. We all congratulated him after the game. He can breathe now and I'm sure things will start rolling for him pretty soon."

If his past performance is any indication of what's to come, then the Orioles will have a new weapon in their lineup that could play a major role coming down the stretch of the year and into the playoffs.