Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Discusses His Major League Struggles

It hasn't quite been the debut many were expecting for one of the Baltimore Orioles top prospects, and he shared why he thinks that is occurring.

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

There were a lot of people getting impatient with the Baltimore Orioles about their lack of willingness to promote one of their top prospects, Coby Mayo.

Considered Top 5 in their pipeline, and one of the best in all of baseball by multiple publications, the slugging third baseman watched his peers get called up to The Show while he had to stay patient in the minors.

Eventually, his long-awaited promotion came on August 2, but much like Jackson Holliday during his first stint in the Majors, Mayo is struggling at the plate.

The 6-foot-5 third baseman has failed to pick up his first career hit, having gone 0-for-13 with eight strikeouts in his five games.

Mayo discussed why he thinks he's struggling in the MLB after putting up fantastic numbers at the Triple-A level despite being younger than the majority of pitchers he was facing during his tenure with that affiliate.

"I think it's just, speed picks up a little bit. The catchers and pitchers are really good at recognizing where their strengths are and what my weaknesses are and they attack them. You have to prove that you can make an adjustment, and they're going to attack those spots," he said per Roch Kubatko of MASN.

That's certainly fair.

It's hard to simulate and prepare for Major League pitching unless a player is facing it on a consistent basis, so with just 15 plate appearances under his belt, it's going to take a while for him to adjust.

Whether that time is given to him or not will be seen.

The Orioles have shown they have a quick hook when it's come to some of their top prospects who get called up, evident by Holliday's 10-game sample size before demoting him, and them waiting until this year to really give Colton Cowser a look.

Jordan Westburg's injury and Ramon Urias' struggles on offense certainly open things up for Mayo to be part of the mix, giving him some time to figure things out at the plate and be part of this group going forward.

He's hoping his preparation has him close to making a breakthrough.

"I've had some good at-bats spitting on those pitches. I've worked in some really good counts, hit some balls hard. Unfortunately, right at people sometimes ... I think once the first one falls it'll kind of take a little weight off your shoulders. But I haven't really thought about the hit much," he told Kubatko. "It's a lot different in Triple-A but I know what kind of hitter I am and what kind of hitter I'm hopefully going to be in this league."

Baltimore certainly wants that happens soon.

Mayo is not in the lineup for the third straight game on Saturday, so he will certainly have to prove it to manager Brandon Hyde that he should be getting opportunities.