Mayo getting out in front of early struggles

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill's Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- Buck Britton has seen the highs and lows of Coby Mayo’s play in recent years.

Britton was Triple-A Norfolk’s manager during the 2023 and '24 seasons, when Mayo was one of baseball’s top prospects and among the best hitters in the Minor Leagues. Britton is now the Orioles’ third-base coach (a job he took over last May), so he’s watching as the 24-year-old infielder still tries to find his footing in MLB.

“The big leagues are hard. Teams make adjustments, and it’s your job as a player to adjust to the league. I think he’s being exposed to things that he hasn’t before, and he’s having to make adjustments,” Britton said. “Every night, man, they’re coming after you. So for him, he’s just got to continue to work and fine-tune those adjustments and have a plan when he goes to the plate and be ready to execute.”

Last September, Mayo seemed to have discovered how to do exactly that. His challenging rookie season ended with a 24-game stretch during which he slashed .301/.393/.548 with three doubles, five home runs and eight RBIs.

Mayo carried that strong finish into Spring Training, posting a .378/.405/.622 slash line with three doubles, two homers and 12 RBIs in 15 games. The 2020 fourth-round Draft pick entered the season as Baltimore’s starting third baseman, taking over the role vacated by the injured Jordan Westburg (right UCL sprain).

Mayo then went back to struggling at the plate, as he did during his brief stint in the big leagues in 2024, as well as much of '25. Entering April 21, the right-handed hitter had a .148 average with two doubles, zero home runs and a .443 OPS through 18 games.

“Just when you think you’ve figured it out,” Mayo said, “pitchers will have something for you and try to throw you off your game a little bit.”

There are noticeable differences in how Mayo is being attacked from last September.

In the final month of the 2025 season, 57% of the fastballs being thrown to Mayo were in the strike zone -- and he capitalized, going 10-for-30 (.333) with three homers against them. During March/April this season, only 48.3% of fastballs he’s seeing are in the zone.

Instead, pitchers have been more willing to come into the strike zone with slower stuff. Of the offspeed offerings being thrown at Mayo, 48.6% have been in the zone -- and he’s 1-for-7 (.143) against them. He’s also 3-for-18 (.167) against breaking pitches in the strike zone.

The Orioles don’t want Mayo to “let the ball travel” or “let the ball get deep,” as manager Craig Albernaz put it. The coaching staff believes Mayo should be pouncing on pitches and making contact before the ball reaches the plate, rather than waiting until it’s over it.

“When Coby was searching earlier in the year, he was trying to do that. But from our perspective, that’s counterproductive to what Coby does well,” Albernaz said. “When Coby’s going right, he’s catching the ball out front. ... That’s where his swing is, and that’s how he maximizes bat speed.”

Mayo has been excelling in that regard over the past week. Since last Tuesday, he is 5-for-15 (.333) with four extra-base hits and seven RBIs. He slugged his first three homers of the season in consecutive games -- last Tuesday and Wednesday at Kansas City, then Friday vs. Boston.

Although Mayo’s home runs came on three different pitch types (four-seam fastball, changeup and slider), he got out in front of each of them and deposited them over the left-field wall.

“It’s no secret that I’m a pull-side hitter. My left field is something that I’m always going to have to rely on for hard contact,” Mayo said. “I think me catching the ball out front is always going to do me justice. I think if I’m ever getting beat or trying to hit balls to right, the pitcher is going to win most of the time.”

As Mayo looks to keep this approach -- while continuing to experiment with different routines and drills in his pregame work -- it should help him begin to get positive results. Earlier in the season, he had some hard contact that resulted in outs, which can grow frustrating.

“Whenever you can get barrels and get some balls to drop, hit some homers, it’s definitely relieving a little. You feel good for it,” Mayo said. “But you can’t think that the work has stopped, and you can’t stop doing what you’re doing that’s making you have success. So yeah, just keep pushing and keep working hard, because I know the pitchers on the other side are not going to just give in.”