Coby

Mayo

Suddenly with fresh life at playing time in the wake of Jordan Westburg’s oblique injury, Mayo is carrying a 1.227 OPS and his double came off the bat at a game-high 111.5 exit velocity. Mayo is definitely in the AL-only conversation at third base. He may yet mount a case to be in the mixed league discussion if he keeps hitting like this.

Mayo had two singles, including an RBI in the first inning. He also added a 102.7 mph flyout that fell just short of a home run at 348 feet. The 24-year-old is battling for a starting spot with Jordan Westburg (oblique) sidelined to start the season. There are some batting average concerns, but Mayo has the power and pulled fly ball approach to hit 25 home runs if he gets a full season of at-bats.

With Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg on the shelf, the door is open for Jackson to secure a spot in the team’s starting lineup to open the 2026 campaign. The 25-year-old hit .276/.328/.447 with five homers and 21 RBI in 183 plate appearances with the O’s in 2025. It seems his most likely competition for that spot will come from Blaze Alexander, who was expected to function in a super utility role. Coby Mayo is starting in place of Westburg at third base and seems like the most likely candidate to fill in there.

He’ll undergo surgery tomorrow. Orioles GM Mike Elias said his timeline will be measured in “weeks” after Opening Day, so it sounds like fantasy managers can expect him to miss most if not all of April. The Orioles could move Jordan Westburg to second base early in the season to play Coby Mayo at third, or perhaps they’ll simply give Blaze Alexander and/or Jeremiah Jackson more run at second base.

Mayo is just 24 years old and a one-time top prospect, who has yet to put it together at the big league level. Yet, he hit .301/.393/.548 with three doubles and five home runs in 24 games in September to end the season, so it would make sense for the Orioles to try and find a way to get him into the lineup. They could use Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle at DH, which would mean no room for Samel Basallo, or they could give Mayo a chance to earn starts in the corner outfield, something that they had been hesitant to do in the past.

The second-largest contract in Orioles history is now official. Hopefully, it works out a whole lot better than the biggest, which was Chris Davis’s ill-fated seven-year, $161 million deal signed a decade ago. Alonso will likely hit third or fourth for the Orioles, and he should benefit some from the move out of Citi Field, though more so from a singles and doubles standpoint than when it comes to homers. The signing frees up to the Orioles to part with Ryan Mountcastle or Coby Mayo and it wouldn’t be surprising to see both of them on the move. One of the two could be part a DH rotation, but neither seems entirely necessary at this point. If both do stick around, Mayo will probably open next season back in the minors.

The Orioles finally did it. Matching the Phillies’ five-year, $150 million offer to Kyle Schwarber didn’t work out, but the Mets probably weren’t similarly motivated to pay Alonso quite this much, at least not for so long. The 31-year-old Alonso is coming off perhaps his most impressive season since his rookie campaign, having hit .272/.347/.524 with 38 homers and 126 RBI. His average exit velocity off the bat was 93.5 mph, which is about four mph ahead of where he was from 2022-24, and his .385 xwOBA was a career high. His 89 barrels were 23 more than he’d ever collected before. With Alonso slotting in at first base, one imagines the Orioles will seek to move Ryan Mountcastle and Coby Mayo, though it’s possible they could keep one as a DH option.

The Orioles currently have Coby Mayo, Ryan Mountcastle and Samuel Basallo for first base and DH, but Mountcastle doesn’t seem all that likely to stick around and Mayo is hardly a sure thing at this point. Alonso would definitely look pretty good hitting third or fourth behind Gunnar Henderson.

Mayo reached base safely in all three of his plate appearances in this one and is quietly batting .306 (19-for-62) over 19 games since the start of September. The 23-year-old former top prospect has recorded multiple hits in four of his last 10 games. He’s clearly building some momentum heading into next season.

The double was a 90.5-mph fly down the left field line that barely caught some chalk near the low wall at Camden Yards. Mayo is now 10-for-25 with two homers in his last eight games. He’s still not hitting the ball particularly hard, but just getting it in play more is working out for him.