Mayo on professional experience and moving up

One year after participating in the Orioles' fall instructional league camp, young third baseman Coby Mayo is in Sarasota, Fla., again and feeling more comfortable after his first season of professional baseball.

Mayo couldn't play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season. He reported to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League this year, a common starting point for draft picks and especially high school players, and moved up to Single-A Delmarva after 26 games and 91 plate appearances.

Still a month shy of his 20th birthday, Mayo demonstrated why the Orioles selected him in the fourth round and signed him well above slot at $1.775 million.

The freakish, 70-grade power was evident and Mayo finished with a .319/.426/.555 line in 53 games, with 14 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 41 RBIs.

"I think my whole game has kind of taken a step forward," Mayo said last week, "and I think that will continue every year, to get better and better the more I see pitches and the more just playing the game of baseball."

Mayo sustained a minor knee injury in April while batting at extended spring training, twisting it and feeling some discomfort. He was shut down as a precaution and took off in the FCL.

"Honestly, my biggest surprise once I got going was how fast I was able to turn on and just have fun," he said. "First few weeks of the season I struggled a little bit because I was coming off a little bit of an injury and not seeing live at-bats for a few months, but once I got a little bit more comfortable in the box I thought everything came pretty easy to me and I didn't think that would happen.

"When I went up to Delmarva, people thought I may struggle a little bit and I don't think that was the case at all."

Not unless batting .311 with a .963 OPS, 14 extra-base hits and 26 RBIs in 27 games count as struggling.

"I think I just kept going from where I was," he said.

Mayo was introduced to the 2021 draft picks with their paths crossing in Sarasota and the group flooding Delmarva's roster.

"They were coming in, I didn't know any of them," Mayo said. "When they got here, we all clicked pretty quickly and we were all playing together pretty quick. They were really awesome guys to be around. They're all college guys, except for one, so playing together with them every day, every other day, was awesome.

"And then getting the experience to go up there with them and be like a part of them was a really cool experience. Talking to them every day about their college experience, just any tips they had. They asked me some questions about pro ball. It's a really special class and obviously you could see that at Delmarva."

Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg played at three levels this summer, finishing with Double-A Bowie. Mayo could return to Delmarva in April, but also move quickly through the system and make multiple jumps if he's thriving.

"I'm not really too worried about, I can't control if I get moved up, when I get moved up," he said. "All I can control is what I do and how I can help my team win every day. I can't really control that. I will control how I do in the box, how I do in the field, how I am in the dugout, how I am with the guys. And I think that will help me progress in the system."