Orioles’ Mansolino likes Mayo’s offense, defense: ‘I’m not stressed out when he’s playing 1st’

Late in this disappointing Orioles’ season, Coby Mayo has begun to show signs that he’ll become an effective major league player. Mayo has been with the Orioles for nearly four months, ever since Ryan Mountcastle went on the injured list with a hamstring injury on May 31^st.

While Mayo’s stats don’t look imposing, they’ve begun to improve this month. In September, Mayo is hitting .283 with an .841 OPS. For the season, his numbers aren’t great, a .208 average with a .649 OPS.

He’s playing first base more regularly than Mountcastle, the incumbent, and the exposure is helpful.

“I think it’s definitely nice,” Mayo said. “It definitely exposes you more to every kind of pitcher. You don’t really get a break. You face every good righty, every good lefty, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino sounds more upbeat these days when he’s talking about the 23-year-old power hitter.

“Everybody develops at different rates,” Mansolino said. “Once the bat reaches its potential, is the glove good enough to  play him there? Without a doubt.

“I’m not stressed out when he’s playing first base now. Early, when he got here, it stressed me out. I think he stressed everybody out. Your first baseman’s got to be able to play defense over there. Watching him four months later, he can play some defense.

“There are still parts of his game that need to improve, and he knows it and he’s working his butt off to improve it. It’s all going to come down to swinging the bat for the kid. At this point, that’s OK. For a young hitter, it takes a little bit of time.”

Mayo regularly drills in front of the Orioles’ dugout with John Mabry, a longtime major league first baseman and batting coach who became the team’s senior adviser just after Mayo replaced Mountcastle on the active roster.

“There’s plays every single day that pop up that you might go back and talk to the coaching staff about, but for the most part, I’m feeling good out there,” Mayo said.

“The coaching staff has done a great job all year in all parts … Everybody is doing a great job to chip in and it gives me confidence.”

Mayo has nine home runs and 25 RBIs in 79 games, decent numbers, but not the power ones expected from a first baseman.

“He’s got to hit,” Mansolino said. “You’ve got to swing the bat. If you’re a first baseman, the expectation of offense at first base is very different than the other positions. You can’t be a glove-first defender at first.

“That’s not how that position works. I think he’s shown signs of that, and I think at some point, this kid is going to really, really hit in the big leagues.”

The Orioles have some decisions to make over the winter involving Mayo. They’re not likely to trade him, but they could move on from Mountcastle, who’s also a right-handed hitter. Mountcastle has one year before free agency, and he’s played only 86 games, and his power numbers (six homers, 33 RBIs, a .252 batting average and .651 OPS) aren’t compelling enough to guarantee a 2026 return.

With catcher Adley Rutschman’s return expected on Tuesday, Samuel Basallo, a left-handed hitter, could get more time at first base. Next season, it’s possible the Orioles could have Mayo and Basallo play at first even if Mayo would like to play more regularly.

“When you’re in there every single day, there’s no hiding from any pitcher,” Mayo said. “You’re facing the best righties, the best lefties, relief pitchers, and you kind of have to go into that as confident as possible, because we face all this good pitching down in the minor leagues, not to discredit yourself from what you did down there and just make sure you know that you can hit.

“You can hit all types of pitching. And I think when you get an extended period of at-bats, you’re going to be more exposed to better pitching, better righties, right-on-right, left-on-left, whoever it is.’

When Mayo came up twice in 2024, he appeared lost. He was just 4-for-41 (.098) with 22 strikeouts. He’s still striking out too often, 81 times in 79 games, but the game has slowed down for him.

“The whole coaching staff, they’ve really done a good job of encouraging me and making sure when I’m not playing or when I am playing to keep it light and not to put too much pressure on myself, because I think that’s when you can kind of go down sort of that rabbit hole and try to do too much and press,” Mayo said.

“I think playing looser and playing a little bit more free takes the pressure off and just frees you up.”

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.