The Orioles introduced that they’ve chosen the contract of outfielder Daniel Johnson from Triple-A Norfolk. Within the corresponding transfer, infielder Coby Mayo was optioned to Triple-A, as was reported earlier right this moment by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X hyperlink).
Johnson signed a minor league take care of the O’s in the course of the offseason, and has delivered a stable .259/.320/.448 slash line and 21 homers over an excellent 500 plate appearances for Norfolk. This manufacturing nearly precisely matches his profession numbers (.255/.324/.446) over 1542 Triple-A PA and even his minor league profession as as entire, protecting eight seasons in 5 completely different organizations. Johnson’s solely earlier Main League expertise consisted over 35 video games with Cleveland over the 2020-21 seasons, and he has a .582 OPS over 94 PA within the bigs.
In including Johnson, the Orioles add a little bit of outfield depth amidst some uncertainty over Cedric Mullins’ standing. Mullins collided with teammate Austin Slater throughout Thursday’s recreation after which didn’t play yesterday attributable to neck discomfort. Johnson has nearly evenly break up his time within the minors as a middle fielder and proper fielder, so he may step onto the O’s bench to assist fill in ought to Mullins must miss any extra time.
Mayo has hit solely .098/.196/.098 over his first 46 plate appearances within the majors, with 4 singles and 4 walks. Nearly half (22) of these plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts, and Mayo has appeared overmatched by MLB pitching so far. Within the area, Mayo has principally performed third base to assist fill the void left behind by the injured Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias, however he has additionally gotten a number of appears to be like at first base since Ryan Mountcastle has additionally been on the IL.
Certainly one of baseball’s prime prospects, Mayo has now been twice optioned again to Triple-A since his contract was initially chosen to the large league roster on August 2. Baltimore initially despatched Mayo right down to the minors on August 15 earlier than bringing him again on September 1 as soon as rosters expanded from 26 to twenty-eight gamers. This second go to to the Present didn’t result in any higher outcomes for Mayo, so he’ll return to Norfolk for the tail finish of the minor league marketing campaign.
As all the time, 46 plate appearances is way too small a pattern measurement to solid judgement on Mayo’s future, and numerous MLB stars have struggled of their first tastes of huge league motion. Whereas clearly the Orioles would’ve cherished an early breakout, Mayo stays on the staff’s radar for a bigger function in 2025. Within the interim, with Baltimore heading for the playoffs and nonetheless gunning for the AL East title, optioning an infielder in Mayo may trace that Urias or Westburg are nearing a return from the injured checklist.
