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The Orioles are trying to mix two vastly different mindsets as they enter the month of June.
This is a team with an opportunity to evaluate younger talent by providing regular starts that could allow it to get a jump on the 2026 season. To offer valuable experience to these players and possibly make some earlier decisions while plotting an offseason plan.
That’s the seller attitude, conceding that 2025 is a lost cause as they sit in last place and try to make the best of a crappy situation.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino recognizes the opportunity available to a prospect like Coby Mayo, but he isn’t giving up on the season. There are no concession speeches during his pre-game and post-game media sessions.
Mansolino kept Heston Kjerstad in the lineup yesterday, an easier task with all three Opening Day starters and one backup on the injured list. Kjerstad played right field, Jorge Mateo got another start in center and Dylan Carlson was in left. Ryan O’Hearn played first base in Ryan Mountcastle’s absence rather than getting another start in right or left.
Mayo, the No. 2 prospect in the organization and 17th in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, served as the designated hitter after his recall yesterday and collected his first major league RBI. He could get some chances at first base with Mountcastle out, and third base is a possibility with Jordan Westburg on an injury rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk – for however much longer that lasts.
Westburg and outfielder Colton Cowser had scheduled days off yesterday as part of their rehab progressions. They took live batting practice to build up their at-bats.
Regular duty for Mayo always has been assumed if Mountcastle suffered an injury or was traded, and there’s one fewer obstacle at third.
“Once we start getting our players back, you’ve got Ramón Urías here in the building, too, who’s a heck of a player and having a really good year,” Mansolino said. “And I think we’re still trying to win games in the big leagues, and I think we’re still trying to get back in this thing and make a run, so it’s important to balance development, which is what you’re asking, and trying to win the game that night. And I think a lot of teams are doing that on a nightly basis, so that’s something that we’ll consider.”
Mayo was in hitter-only mode yesterday but the Orioles keep checking for gains made defensively. Mansolino still works with the infielders but Buck Britton is more involved since the managerial change.
“I think he’s gotten better,” Mansolino said of Mayo. “Kind of looking at him when we got him last year at the end of the year and kind of seeing him go through spring training and then what we saw a little bit earlier, I think he’s trending upwards. I think he’s doing better. But it’s something that he needs to continue to work hard at.
“None of these guys are finished products when they get to the big leagues, and the 30-year-olds aren’t finished products. I think every player in the big leagues should have something they’re trying to get better at, and Coby’s no different.”
* Jorge Mateo collected his 11th hit yesterday by homering in between swiping his 13th and 14th bases.
The plus-three differential between steals and hits is tied for fourth-largest since stolen bases were tracked in 1886, according to STATS.
Oakland’s Matt Alexander went 26/10 for a plus-16 differential in 1977. He’s the leader. The Cubs’ Ced Landrum is second at 27/20 in 1991, Dan Long of the 1890 original Orioles is third at 16/12, and Mateo tied the Royals’ Willie Wilson, who went 46/43 in 1978.
Mateo is the only Orioles player with more steals than hits at the moment. Rule 5 pick José Morban was minus-2 at eight/10 in 2003, Matt Angle was minus-three at 11/14 in 2011, and Larry Harlow was minus-4 at six/10 in 1977.
* More Mateo: He’s stolen a base in a career-high five consecutive games with a plate appearance. The only other Orioles to do it are Corey Patterson (nine games in 2006), Luis Matos (six games in 2001, Luis Aparicio (five games in 1964), and Brian Roberts (five games in 2003).
And more Mateo: He’s compiled a 1.169 OPS through 16 games against the White Sox, his highest mark against any team.
* Jackson Holliday pulled a cutter 394 feet to right field yesterday at 108.8 mph with his family and wife Chloé in the stands. He can concentrate on line drives but his natural power will produce home runs.
Holliday also is driving the ball to the opposite field, which is leading to more productive at-bats. But there’s this nugget from STATS that also explains how he’s more of a threat at the plate:
After posting a .182 average and .318 slugging percentage against breaking balls before May, Holliday was hitting .313 with a .594 slugging on those pitches prior to yesterday.
* Heading into Friday’s start, Zach Eflin was one of three pitchers in the last 50 years to have a sub-3.70 ERA, at least 65 strikeouts and two or fewer hit batters through his first 15 games with the Orioles.
The other two are Corbin Burnes in 2024 and Jason Hammel in 2012.
Eflin shut out the White Sox over seven innings and has a 3.39 ERA in 16 starts with the club.
* Ryan O’Hearn had a .466 on-base percentage this month before yesterday, when he went 1-for-4 with a double.
The last Orioles player to post an OBP of at least .450 in May in a minimum of 75 plate appearances was Roberts at .485 in 2007.
* The Orioles had registered a .361 average when ahead in the count before yesterday, the second-highest average in the majors. The White Sox’s .290 average was the third-worst mark.
