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The Orioles got rid of their jet lag from the West Coast trip. They really are healthier.
They can’t brag, though. Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins returned yesterday, and the club announced at first pitch that Jorge Mateo was going on the injured list with left elbow inflammation.
Never a dull moment to the 2025 season. Never a peaceful stretch.
Mateo was injured while playing center field on May 31 at Camden Yards. He raced into the gap and his arm slammed into Heston Kjerstad’s arm. Kjerstad made the catch, but it wasn’t their only adventure while chasing a ball in that vicinity.
Both players have seen better days. Mateo is on the IL while batting .180/.231/.279 in 31 games. Kjerstad was optioned yesterday while batting .192/.240/.327 in 54.
Kjerstad finally got his shot but struggled at the plate and in the outfield, and the Orioles basically had to choose between Dylan Carlson and the player selected with the second-overall pick in the 2020 draft.
“Heston’s kind of sometimes unorthodox with his game play, but a really good player nonetheless,” Mullins said. “Some things that he needs to work on. I think he was able to see that and feel that during his time here. A lot of guys go through it. It’s just part of the nature of the game. Go down, stay confident, make those adjustments, come back better.”
Mullins has lived it. He was the starting center fielder on Opening Day 2019, but the Orioles optioned him in late April and he didn’t come back, tumbling down to Double-A. He became an All-Star two years later with the first 30/30 season in franchise history.
“It’s never easy to kind of face your flaws in the game directly,” Mullins said, “but it gives yourself a chance to kind of restart, really just face what your challenges are head-on and go from there.”
Backup catcher Maverick Handley is confident that Kjerstad will handle the demotion and return to the club.
“It’s been an inconsistent year for him, no doubt,” Handley said. “In Triple-A, it was nothing but barrels, you know? Three-hundred with big-time pop, big-time juice. I feel like up here, stuff’s a little better. He got into a little rut, and it’s tough, man. In Triple-A, you don’t have the pressure of, if you don’t play well, you’re not gonna play the next day. He’s in there no matter what in Triple-A. I think here, there’s a little pressure of, you look bad, you might not be out there the next day.
“I know he’d say this to you. His defense wasn’t as good as he wants it to be. He knows there’s some catches that he should be making there. The offense, for a guy that has light-tower power, he hasn’t gotten to it as much as I’m sure he would have liked. But it’s tough. I don’t necessarily know if him being optioned is a demotion as much as just like, ‘Hey, you’re the odd man out. We’ve got some guys who are playing really good baseball in the outfield right now.’ I hope that he can use this as a time to get back, look at some film, make some slight adjustments, and whenever his time’s ready, be ready to come back up here and make a difference.”
Kjerstad will go back to Norfolk with the proper mentality. How else can he return to his Camden Yards locker later in the summer?
“It’s not gonna worry him at all,” Handley said. “Really, his personality type, he understands, and he knows he hasn’t been playing as well as he wants to be playing, so I think this could be a really good reset for him. Is it gonna affect him mentally? No. He’s way stronger than that. This is not gonna be very hard on his confidence at all.”
Yesterday’s flurry of moves didn’t touch Coby Mayo and seems to have provided even more runway for him. Ryan Mountcastle is going to be lost for a couple of months with a Grade 2 hamstring strain – he was walking gingerly and with a noticeable limp yesterday, as you’d expect – and making room for Tyler O’Neill’s expected return by next week seems much simpler with infielder Luis Vázquez replacing Mateo.
Mayo started at first base again last night and interim manager Tony Mansolino expects him to stay on that side of the infield.
“You’re probably gonna see him more at first base,” Mansolino said. “Unless there’s a specific need, I doubt we see him at third base right now. I think we’re gonna try to simplify it for him a little bit and focus mostly on first, and we’ll go from there. But just continued growth.
“He’s been doing great out there. He’s grown defensively over the years for me. I think the coaches are doing a great job with him at first base, so just continue to get better.”
Mayo went 0-for-3 last night with a strikeout and double play, and Ramón Urías pinch-hit for him in the ninth. Mayo is batting .147 with a .392 OPS but drew praise on the West Coast trip for his improved at-bats, including his first career extra-base hit and stolen base in Sacramento.
“I think we are being patient, and we see great signs of progress with Coby,” Mansolino said. “Any time a young player comes in, I think you’re weaving them into the big leagues in a certain way. You think back to a couple of years ago when Westburg came up and looked at how Westy kind of weaved himself into the big leagues, and how he’s used, I think it’s probably a pretty good blueprint for Mayo, and we’ll continue to do that with him.
“I think anytime a young player is here, I think every young player is probably built differently. I don’t think we treat everybody the same by any means. I think that’s probably a myth, but I think a lot of smart people get together and they ask, ‘What’s best for the kid, how do we handle this kid? And then also balance trying to win the game every night, which is the most important thing. So I think we’re trying to marry the two together, and I’ve said before, I think most teams in the big leagues are trying to balance development and winning on a nightly basis in some form or fashion.”
