Baltimore Orioles Option Top Prospects Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo to Minor League Camp

Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo won't be suiting up for the Baltimore Orioles on Opening Day after all, as they will close out spring training at the minor league level.

Dunedin, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles third baseman Coby Mayo (16) scores a run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second inning during spring training at TD Ballpark. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles optioned third baseman Coby Mayo to Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday, according to the team's official transaction log.

Mayo opened 2025 as the No. 2 prospect in the Orioles farm system and the No. 14 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. He made his MLB debut in 2024, going 4-for-46 with four walks and 22 strikeouts in 17 games.

The 23-year-old hit .191 with a .501 OPS in 17 Grapefruit League games this spring, but was batting .368 with a .935 OPS since March 8. Regardless of his recent surge at the plate, though, Mayo will not be a part of the Orioles' Opening Day roster.

"It obviously sucks because you feel like you've proven everything you've needed to, sometimes it doesn't feel like it's quite enough," Mayo said Tuesday, per The Baltimore Banner's Andy Kostka. "Obviously, you go back (to Norfolk) and if you have success it's 'Oh, he's supposed to have success because he's already proven it. And if he doesn't have success it's 'Oh, well obviously he's fallen off.' It's kind of a lose-lose going back to Norfolk."

Mayo exited Monday's spring training game against the Boston Red Sox after getting hit by a pitch in his right hand.

With Jordan Westburg settled in at third base and Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O'Hearn in place at first, there wasn't a clear path for Mayo to get regular playing time on the big league roster. Fourth outfielder Heston Kjerstad can provide depth at first, while bench infielder Ramón Urías won a Gold Glove at third in 2022.

Fifth Ramón Laureano, who the Orioles signed in February, will likely earn an Opening Day roster spot now that Mayo has been demoted.

While Mayo was the only member of Baltimore's 40-man roster to lose his spot in big league spring training camp, he wasn't the only player cut Tuesday.

The Orioles reassigned six non-roster invitees to minor league camp, including catcher Samuel Basallo. He was joined by outfielder Daz Cameron, utility man Nick Gordon and right-handed pitchers Corbin Martin, Levi Stoudt and Thaddeus Ward.

MLB Pipeline has Basallo ranked as Baltimore's No. 1 prospect, in addition to slotting him in at No. 14 in their league-wide top 100. Basallo, who hit .226 with a .770 OPS in Grapefruit League play, went 0-for-3 in the Orioles' Spring Breakout game against the New York Yankees on Saturday.

The Orioles now have 41 players in their major league camp, six of whom are non-roster invites.

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