O's top minor league award winners for 2024: Coby Mayo and Brandon Young

Two players the Orioles acquired in and after the 2020 MLB Draft have won their two top player development and scouting awards, the club announced today.

Slugger Coby Mayo wins the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles' minor league Player of the Year. Right-hander Brandon Young is the Jim Palmer Award winner as minor league Pitcher of the Year.

The Orioles also today named Latin America Coordinator of Instruction Samuel Vega the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award winner and Donovan O'Dowd the Jim Russo Scout of the Year.

Due to the pandemic, the 2020 draft was just five rounds. The O’s selected Mayo in round four at selection No. 103. After that draft, they added Young out of Louisiana-Lafayette as a non-drafted free agent.

Mayo is ranked as the club’s No. 1 prospect and No. 8 overall in the top 100 by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline after a big year at Triple-A Norfolk.

Over 91 games this year, four on a rehab assignment with High-A Aberdeen and the rest with Norfolk, he hit .299/.377/.604/.981 with 26 doubles, three triples, 25 homers, 65 runs and 73 RBIs.

In his 87 Norfolk games (he hit three homers with Aberdeen), Mayo hit .293/.369/.574/.943 with 23 doubles, three triples, 22 homers, 61 runs and 67 RBIs.

Mayo told me recently that his strong finish at Triple-A in 2023 (an OPS of .905 in 62 games) provided confidence he would thrive there this year.

“I think starting in spring training this year, after the season I had last year, gave me a boost that I could have another good year,” he said. “Learned a lot at big league camp and playing well gave me a lot of confidence going into the Triple-A season that I could compete with the best.

“When you are surrounded by all that talent we had at the beginning of the year in Norfolk – everyone was hitting. You lean on those guys a little bit. All the sudden you are in June or July and your numbers look really good. I just think it was the consistency we had, our coaches, all of that.”

Mayo’s 25 homers in the minors this year are the most by a top 100 prospect this season, and his .943 OPS and .574 slugging percentage would pace all qualified hitters in the International League.

Mayo has struggled with the Orioles, going 3-for-37 in two big league stints. But today he is the Brooks Robinson Award winner, joining recent winners such as Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg and Adley Rutschman.

Young, 26, had Tommy John surgery early in the 2022 season after making just three starts for Double-A Bowie. He finally got back on a mound in a game mid-July last year. But this season, he had a full, healthy year, and a good one at that.

Starting at Bowie (making seven appearances) but mostly pitching at Triple-A, he has gone 5-5 with a 3.48 ERA over 106 innings. He has averaged 2.9 walks and 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Young is ranked as the O’s No. 19 prospect in their top 30 by MLB Pipeline and No. 24 via Baseball America.

On a Zoom call with reporters yesterday, Young talked about getting this award and what he did well this year to have such a good season.

“It’s awesome,” Young said. “To have a healthy season after coming back from Tommy John, again, is huge. Just the consistency I’ve had this year means a lot for sure.

“Just staying to the routine. Kind of just not getting too ahead of myself. Not thinking about the past. Being here now, every day and just trying to have fun honestly.”

Yes, young did have Tommy John again. He had his first surgery at age 13.

Young, whose fastball can touch 95 and 96 mph, has a 3.32 ERA this year at Triple-A. And he is getting better as the year is getting deeper. Over his past eight games, he has a 2.59 ERA with 10 walks and 47 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings.

Among Orioles minor leaguers with at least 90 innings pitched, he ranks third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (21.6), fourth in WHIP (1.23), sixth in ERA and sixth in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (10.95).

Young remembers that unusual 2020 season and the short draft. After that draft, as a free agent, he could essentially pick his own team and he chose the Orioles.

“I think I was definitely fortunate enough to be able to play professional baseball," said Young. "It has been my dream since I was a kid and to pick my team was huge. What the Orioles were coaching me, it made so much sense in my mind. So I’m glad I made that decision for sure."

He said the O’s Chris Holt and Justin Ramsey talked to him on behalf of the club back then and he liked what they had in mind for him to improve his game.

The surgery he had was a setback. But today he is the Jim Palmer Award winner for the club.

Vega was named the O's Latin America field coordinator in 2022, overseeing the development of the club’s international prospects. Vega has played an instrumental role in getting the O's brand-new state-of-the-art Dominican Republic training facility up and running. The O's had a Dominican Summer League playoff team this year and they feature 12 international prospects on MLB Pipeline's current top 30.

O’Dowd has been in the organization since 2019, proving to be a key member of the club's scouting operations as he patrols the country’s northeast area, which ranges from Virginia to Maine.

Some of his recent signings include 2024 draft picks Griff O'Ferrall and Ethan Anderson as well as undrafted free agents Trey Gibson and TT Bowens.

The award winners will be recognized in an on-field ceremony prior to the game against Tigers tonight, with the awards presented by O's vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood, director of player development Anthony Villa, director of minor league operations Kent Qualls and manager of domestic scouting Chad Tatum.