Orioles Top Prospect Walks Back Critical Comments Made After Demotion to Minors

Baltimore Orioles top prospect Coby Mayo, who earlier this week called his demotion to the minors a "lose-lose" while venting his frustrations, walked back his critical comments on Wednesday.

"The comments I made yesterday to the media were by no means directed to the Orioles organization or the Norfolk Tides," Mayo wrote in a post on X. "I will be the first to tell you I didn't do enough this spring to break camp with the big-league team.

"I was frustrated in the moment and things were taken out of context. As a competitor, this has lit a fire in me and I will make sure I work even harder to get back to the big leagues and help the team win games as soon as possible. I will never settle for anything less than the best version of myself."

The Orioles on Tuesday optioned Mayo, the club's No. 2-ranked prospect, to Triple-A Norfolk. He took the demotion hard, expressing the feeling that it puts him in an unfair position.

"It definitely is difficult," Mayo told The Baltimore Banner. "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. Obviously, you go back there and if you have success, it’s, ‘Oh, well, 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 to Norfolk."

After a 1-for-23 slump to start the spring, Mayo had begun to swing the bat better, collecting seven hits in his last eight games. In 17 games this spring, Mayo posted a .190/.239/.262 slash line while spending time at both first and third base for the Orioles. Unfortunately, Baltimore is set at both positions entering the 2025 season, with five-year veteran Ryan Mountcastle entrenched at first base and '24 first-time All-Star Jordan Westburg manning the hot corner.

That leaves Mayo, who made his MLB debut in '24, back in the minors. In 151 career games at the Triple-A level, he has amassed a .919 OPS with 34 home runs.