NEW YORK -- At the beginning of September, Coby Mayo was sitting on six home runs through the first 61 games of his rookie campaign for the Orioles. The 23-year-old then set a goal for himself to reach by the end of the season.
Mayo wanted to get to 10 homers.
“It's not Cal Raleigh and 60, but it's something,” Mayo said, referring to the historic year by the Mariners’ catcher, who ranks among American League Most Valuable Player front-runners.
Not only did Mayo achieve his goal -- reaching double digits with his key home run in Thursday’s come-from-behind walk-off win over the Rays -- but he has surpassed it.
Mayo went deep again in Baltimore’s 6-1 loss on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, leading off the eighth inning with a solo shot off New York right-hander Paul Blackburn. The Statcast-projected 389-foot, 105.4 mph blast marked Mayo’s 11th homer of the season and his fifth in 21 games.
After going 4-for-41 (.098) without an extra-base hit over his first 17-game taste of MLB last year, Mayo struggled offensively for much of this year despite becoming an everyday player during the summer. Entering September, he owned a .184/.262/.326 slash line.
This month, however, Mayo has found success at the plate, hitting .314 (22-for-70) with a .978 OPS in 23 September games.
“Just working really hard, seeing how they’re attacking me. We have some really good hitting coaches here and you continue to work hard, and I’ve never given up,” said Mayo, a 2020 fourth-round Draft pick and former top prospect. “A few weeks ago, I was in a tough spot, didn’t like where I was at, and just continued to work.”
The home runs are reminiscent of the power production shown by Mayo in the Minors, as he slugged 42 homers in 196 games for Triple-A Norfolk over the past three seasons.
It’s more fun to go deep in the big leagues, of course.
“Those homers always feel good, and they always bring back memories of the Minor League homers,” Mayo said. “You remember that you can do it and you’re good enough in this league.”
The Orioles (75-86 entering Sunday’s season finale) have stuck with Mayo, understanding that results don’t always come immediately for heralded youngsters at the highest level. In fact, it’s much more common for players to experience growing pains.
Mayo appears to be turning a corner now, though, one that could set him up to be a key contributor for Baltimore in 2026.
“We stayed the course with him,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I think we know he's going to be a good hitter, and I think we know it's going to take a little bit of time, and I think we know there's going to be really good moments. So I still see Coby as a guy that’s going to be an impact hitter at some point in the game. I would love for it to be tomorrow. I think we all would. ...
“The reality is most hitters take a couple years, and I do think that's going to be the track for Coby.”
There’s a chance that Mayo’s emergence will lead to the end of Ryan Mountcastle’s tenure with the O’s. Both are right-handed-hitting first basemen, plus lefty-hitting catcher Samuel Basallo (Baltimore’s No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 8 overall) gets sporadic starts at first so he and Adley Rutschman can be in the lineup together as often as possible.
Mountcastle, who is entering his final year of arbitration this offseason, could be either a non-tender candidate or a trade chip. The 28-year-old hasn’t played the past two days due to the roster logjam, and 12 of his 15 starts this month have come at designated hitter.
“You never know what's going to happen. Would love to come back,” Mountcastle said. “If it is my last game [Sunday], I had a lot of fun here. If not, I'm super excited, I love all these guys, they're my family.”
Even though Mayo has taken some of Mountcastle’s playing time, the two have become quite close in recent months. So close, in fact, that Mayo joked that others on the team call them brothers, as they’re similarly statured guys who are both from Florida.
Mountcastle has been the Orioles’ first baseman for much of his six-year run with the club. But based on Mayo’s September performance, he could be starting a similar type of tenure in Baltimore.
“This month has been really good for me,” Mayo said. “If I can take this month and build off it into the offseason and into next Spring Training, I think I’m going to be in a pretty good spot.”