[Baltimore Sun] Orioles observations on Coby Mayo’s hot spring start, Jordan Westburg’s opportunity and more
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SARASOTA, Fla. — Coby Mayo entered spring training facing an uphill to make the Orioles’ opening day roster. The 2020 fourth-round pick had an outstanding 2023 season during which he reached Triple-A Norfolk, but the Orioles’ deep roster of young position player prospects thrust him into a competition with no clear path to a roster spot.
Despite the uncertainty, Mayo has jumped out to a fast start this spring. He went 2-for-2 with a walk in the Orioles’ split-squad 8-3 loss Monday to the Tampa Bay Rays after recording a double in his first game Saturday. Mayo, a natural third baseman, has experience at first and the outfield as well. With Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad in consideration for roster spots, he’s going to need a strong spring to stand out.
“You got to just go out there and have a day like today where you just have good at-bats and only can do when you can control,” Mayo said. “I think it’s just a great battle between a bunch of good prospects and a bunch of great players that you can go out there and just, dog-eat-dog world.”
approach I have right now.”
Jordan Westburg steals the show on the road
The other half of Orioles camp made the trip to North Port, Florida, for a matchup against the Atlanta Braves. They grabbed a 2-1 win led by Jordan Westburg, who finished 2-for-3 with a home run and a triple. Westburg, like Mayo, is one of several young players vying a roster spot in camp, but his path is much less obstructed.
Though he’s a natural shortstop, Westburg demonstrated last season his ability to play second and third base as well. His strong glove played at all three positions and he held his own at the plate with a .260/.311/.404 slash line in 228 plate appearances as a rookie.
Baltimore’s only entrenched infielder at any of those positions is Gunnar Henderson, and even he can play both third base and shortstop seamlessly. Even if Holliday breaks camp as the Orioles’ starting second baseman, Westburg’s versatility and the comfort he’s already shown at the MLB level makes him an easy player to pencil into a starting role. His performance Monday only reinforces the confidence Baltimore has shown in him.
Around the horn
• A pair of the Orioles’ top pitching prospects got the starting nods for each of the team’s split-squad games Monday. Left-hander Cade Povich worked around some early walk troubles to post two scoreless innings at home against the Rays. Righty Seth Johnson faced a full Braves lineup on the road and responded with two clean frames of his own. Yet perhaps the best pitching performance of the day belonged to fellow prospect Justin Armbruester, who retired the first eight Rays he faced and struck out four.
• The Orioles reunited with infielder Tyler Nevin this offseason after acquiring him from the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations in January. No stranger to Sarasota, Nevin looked right at home Monday when he hit a two-run homer to center field against the Rays. The 2015 first-round pick of the Colorado Rockies made his MLB debut with Baltimore in 2021 and hit .205 with three home runs in 64 games across two seasons with the club.
• Also going deep Monday afternoon was outfielder Kyle Stowers, who homered against Braves southpaw Dylan Lee for his first blast of the spring. It was an encouraging one for the left-handed Stowers, who has mostly been limited to facing right-handed pitching so far in his young MLB career.
Tigers (SS) at Orioles
Tuesday, 1:05 p.m.
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