CLEVELAND-What happened? Coby Mayo made his major league debut, walking twice and striking out twice in the Orioles’ 8-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night.
Mayo fielded one ground ball and pulled up short on a shallow fly ball down the left-field line, yielding to leftfielder Colton Cowser, who wasn’t in position to catch the ball. After nearly tripping over Cowser, Mayo retrieved the ball but two runs scored to give the Guardians a 4-1 lead.
Oriole starter Dean Kremer allowed four runs on six hits in five innings and didn’t get strong support for the second straight game.
Left-handed relief pitcher Gregory Soto, who was acquired on Tuesday from Philadelphia. pitched for the first time for the Orioles and allowed four runs in an ugly sixth.
Jackson Holliday had two hits, his first multi-hit game, and drove in a run. Cowser extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
The Orioles have lost four of five to the Guardians this season. Cleveland has won five straight and at 67-42 have the best record in baseball.
What did Mayo think of his first game? “Something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Mayo said. “I know it wasn’t the exact result I wanted, but I had some really good at-bats, played solid in the field. Obviously wanted to win, but many games left.”
The size of Progressive Field astounded Mayo.
“Yeah, surreal. Driving in today, seeing the ballpark, I was like, ‘Gosh, this looks nothing like a minor league park,’ Just unreal experience. Glad it’s over, getting the first one out of the way, and tomorrow will be a normal day.”
The comforts of major league parks are superior to what he saw in the International League.
“The batter’s eye was a lot better,” he said. “I feel like I was seeing the ball well tonight. I know that I’m going to get heavy offspeed. Ball’s moving away from me, so kind of expected that. You learn every day, at-bat to at-bat, pitch by pitch. As a good major league player, you have to learn and adjust.”
Manager Brandon Hyde wasn’t happy that the ball to left field wasn’t caught.
“It’s a play we’ve got to make, 2-1 game at that point,” he said. “A couple young guys, inexperience. It’s just lack of communication on that play. That ball needs to be caught, though.”
Mayo will learn from those plays.
“It was kind of one of those in between,” Mayo said. “I was going back, thought I had a chance over the shoulder, he called it off. He’s been great all year in the outfield. I gave him a good shot at it and it just fell right between us and picked it up and just trying to throw the ball in.”
What do the Orioles think of Mayo’s promotion? It was just under two years ago that Gunnar Henderson played his first major league game in Cleveland.
“It definitely brings back memories every time I come to this ballpark,” Henderson said. “It was really cool to experience it last year for the first time since the debut, kind of a special place to me.”
Henderson did offer some advice.
“Obviously, just enjoy the experience,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to in the moment because you just want to play well, but you only get to debut once, so really just soak in the moment and try to make the most of it.”
Suddenly, Jackson Holliday is no longer the least experienced player on the team.
“It’s a little weird, right,” Holliday said. “It’s good to have Coby up here.”
Each of the Norfolk prospects — the traded Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers, Heston Kjerstad, who’s now back at Norfolk, Holliday and Mayo have now all played in the major leagues.
“It’s definitely a group chat, and Heston is a smartass sometimes, but ‘Four big leaguers and Coby’ was the name of our group chat. Now, it’s ‘Five Big Leaguers.’ It’s pretty cool to have everybody make their debut.”
What does Hyde think about Mayo? Hyde termed Mayo’s game “a productive night.”
“I’m not looking at him to replace Jordan Westburg,” he said. “Jordan Westburg was an All-Star, middle of the order and played two positions extremely well and got huge hits for us.
“I just want Coby to be himself, try to just help and try to take the best at-bats he possibly can, catch the ball that’s at him, and not try to do too much but try to contribute to a winning team. We’re lucky that we have so many guys in our system the last couple of years that put numbers up and put themselves in a position to help us.”
Hyde said there’s a world of difference between the minors and majors and realizes it could be a tough adjustment for Mayo.
“It’s just realistic. You hope that he gets off to a good start,” Hyde said. “You hope that he plays well, but you really never know. The Triple-A level to the major league level, it’s not even close, not even the same atmosphere or universe.
“The level is so much different, the pitching he’s going to face, the speed of the game. The third deck, the fourth deck at times. It’s a way different game and you do all you can to prepare a guy for this moment. Sometimes it works out great, sometimes not so much. Your best job predicting the guy’s ready or not, and we’re hoping that Coby’s ready.”
What’s the word? “It’s a little unique, especially in the position we’re in, but they’re really talented guys, so we hope the talent can rise up. This is a really, really tough game to play, especially at this level, especially at this time of year with pressure and everything that goes along with it.”-Hyde on having a young, inexperienced infield.
What does it mean? Mayo got his first game out of the way, so perhaps he’ll be more relaxed and work his way through his initial days in the major leagues.
What’s the stat of the day? $105 million. According to Cot’s Contracts, with the recent additions at the trade deadline, the Orioles’ payroll has risen to $105 million, 24th in the majors.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Bruce Zimmermann allowed four runs on six hits in five innings in Triple-A Norfolk’s 7-6 loss to Charlotte.
Catcher Samuel Basallo had three hits, including his 14th home run, in Double-A Bowie’s 3-2 win over Somerset.
Centerfielder Kevin Guerrero scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth as Single-A Delmarva beat Myrtle Beach, 3-2.
High-A Aberdeen’s game with Brooklyn was suspended by rain in the fourth inning with the IronBirds leading 1-0.
Transactions: Outfielder Cristian Pache was claimed off waivers by Miami. … Left-handers Cole Irvin and Matt Krook were outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.
What’s next? Zach Eflin (6-7, 4.11) will face Joey Cantillo (0-0, 8.10) on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. The game will be shown exclusively on FOX.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com