The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Daniel Johnson from Triple-A Norfolk. In the corresponding move, infielder Coby Mayo was optioned to Triple-A, as was reported earlier today by Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link).
Johnson signed a minor league deal with the O’s during the offseason, and has delivered a solid .259/.320/.448 slash line and 21 homers over an even 500 plate appearances for Norfolk. This production almost exactly matches his career numbers (.255/.324/.446) over 1542 Triple-A PA and even his minor league career as as whole, covering eight seasons in five different organizations. Johnson’s only previous Major League experience consisted over 35 games with Cleveland over the 2020-21 seasons, and he has a .582 OPS over 94 PA in the bigs.
In adding Johnson, the Orioles add a bit of outfield depth amidst some uncertainty over Cedric Mullins’ status. Mullins collided with teammate Austin Slater during Thursday’s game and then didn’t play yesterday due to neck discomfort. Johnson has almost evenly split his time in the minors as a center fielder and right fielder, so he could step onto the O’s bench to help fill in should Mullins have to miss any more time.
Mayo has hit only .098/.196/.098 over his first 46 plate appearances in the majors, with four singles and four walks. Almost half (22) of those plate appearances have resulted in strikeouts, and Mayo has looked overmatched by MLB pitching to date. In the field, Mayo has mostly played third base to help fill the void left behind by the injured Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias, but he has also gotten a few looks at first base since Ryan Mountcastle has also been on the IL.
One of baseball’s top prospects, Mayo has now been twice optioned back to Triple-A since his contract was initially selected to the big league roster on August 2. Baltimore initially sent Mayo down to the minors on August 15 before bringing him back on September 1 once rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players. This second visit to the Show didn’t lead to any better results for Mayo, so he’ll return to Norfolk for the tail end of the minor league campaign.
As always, 46 plate appearances is far too small a sample size to cast judgement on Mayo’s future, and countless MLB stars have struggled in their first tastes of big league action. While obviously the Orioles would’ve loved an early breakout, Mayo remains on the team’s radar for a larger role in 2025. In the interim, with Baltimore heading for the playoffs and still gunning for the AL East title, optioning an infielder in Mayo could hint that Urias or Westburg are nearing a return from the injured list.