Mayo to play first and third this spring..preparing for RF

[Sports Guy]

https://www.masnsports.com/orioles-rss/players-in-orioles-camp-excited-to-have-burnes-on-the-club
 

Good stuff in this article about the players reaction to Burnes but I found the Mayo stuff at the end interesting.

[sportsfan8703]

Mayo just became more important to this season. We need to score some runs. 

[Otter]

9 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Mayo just became more important to this season. We need to score some runs. 

Definitely agree we're going to have to score more runs with the pitching troubles.  However, Mayo doesn't have a clear path to playing time in the majors right now unless we have some trades or injuries.

[Aristotelian]

18 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

https://www.masnsports.com/orioles-rss/players-in-orioles-camp-excited-to-have-burnes-on-the-club
 

Good stuff in this article about the players reaction to Burnes but I found the Mayo stuff at the end interesting.

Interesting but not sure what to make of it. Getting reps in RF but that doesn't mean they are moving him there. "Still has a chance" to be an infielder at 1st or 3rd. So, pretty much what we thought but interesting for sure.

[sportsfan8703]

7 minutes ago, Otter said:

Definitely agree we're going to have to score more runs with the pitching troubles.  However, Mayo doesn't have a clear path to playing time in the majors right now unless we have some trades or injuries.

He does if we trade Westburg.

[Greg Pappas]

Regarding defense, Mayo reminds me a bit of Mountcastle when he was coming up;  not that good at third, maybe an eventual move to 1B or a corner outfield spot.  With Mayo, I'm glad they're exploring what he can do in RF (big arm) and 1B.  Many of us have speculated on that happening.  We'll see how it goes.

Edited February 16 by Greg Pappas

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

He does if we trade Westburg.

If he goes out and OPS's 1.000 in AAA he will have a clear path one way or the other. Sounds like he will get the first opportunity if anyone struggles in OF, 1B, or 3B. 

[btdart20]

29 minutes ago, Greg Pappas said:

Regarding defense, Mayo reminds me a bit of Mountcastle when he was coming up;  not that good at third, maybe an eventual move to 1B or a corner outfield spot.  With Mayo, I'm glad they're exploring what he can do in RF (big arm) and 1B.  Many of us have speculated on that happening.  We'll see how it goes.

I can see how they'd be compared.  But to level set a bit:  no one really thought Mountcastle would be a 3B beyond the O's propaganda personnel at the time.  Mayo has plenty of external scouts saying he has a chance to stick at 3B even if he has defensive question marks. 

I do appreciate that they are giving him reps at other positions as well.  Whatever gets his bat in Baltimore the fastest...

[jamalshw]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

He does if we trade Westburg.

I doubt they do...and the fact they're saying he's playing both 1B and 3B in spring and getting ready for work in RF reads that they have little hope of him being an everyday 3B defensively. They're not ready to pull the plug at 3B, but having him getting reps further down the defensive spectrum at 1B and the OF where there is already some depth rather than focusing him on improving his defense at 3B means something. If they were confident in him at 3B, shouldn't he get as many reps as possible there to work on and improve given defense is clearly the weakest part of his game?

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

I can see how they'd be compared.  But to level set a bit:  no one really thought Mountcastle would be a 3B beyond the O's propaganda personnel at the time.  Mayo has plenty of external scouts saying he has a chance to stick at 3B even if he has defensive question marks. 

I do appreciate that they are giving him reps at other positions as well.  Whatever gets his bat in Baltimore the fastest...

Mayo also has better strike zone judgment than Mountcastle did as a prospect which should help him getting better pitches to hit. Mountcastle can hit the ball as hard as anyone, but his tendency to swing at almost anything limits his ceiling as a hitter.

I’m expecting Mayo to be marginally better than Mountcastle and will be surprised if he isn’t. 

[DirtyBird]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Mayo just became more important to this season. We need to score some runs. 

You didn't think we needed to score runs before yesterday?

[Three Run Homer]

It makes sense to give Mayo a look at 3B this spring.  He's much more valuable if he is playable at 3B even if he'll never be a Gold Glover there.  

It also makes sense to give him reps in RF and 1B, given the questions about his defense at 3B.  He has a plus arm and it would be a shame to waste that at 1B or DH.   

 

[DirtyBird]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

He does if we trade Westburg.

Why in the world would there be discussion of trading Westburg now?

[ChuckS]

3 hours ago, Otter said:

Definitely agree we're going to have to score more runs with the pitching troubles.  However, Mayo doesn't have a clear path to playing time in the majors right now unless we have some trades or injuries.

Clear is debatable?  But your starting infield could theoretically be 1B Mountcastle/O'Hearn, 2B Westburg, SS Henderson, and 3B Mayo.  The 1B and DH also gives Mayo some flexibility to get starts there.  Under this scenario, Urias is my utility infielder and Mateo is backing up CF and SS but primarily used as a pinch runner and late defensive replacement. 

The challenge then could then be finding a spot for Kjerstad. 

Also have to consider that not every position player projected for the big league roster is guaranteed to be healthy on OD.  So additional spots could open up. 

Edited February 16 by ChuckS

[Sports Guy]

https://www.masnsports.com/orioles-rss/orioles-spring-training-notes-on-means-wells-vavra-mayo-and-o-hearn
 

No one in this organization has a better attitude than Mayo. I can’t wait for him to be a full time MLer.