Coby Mayo Continues To Mash As Baltimore Orioles' Southpaw Specialist

Coby Mayo is an absolute threat against left-handed pitching. The Baltimore Orioles have hit a stride as a team recently, with lots of things clicking for them in their recent stretch. By the end of Sunday, they owned sole possession of an American League Wild Card spot, almost a couple of weeks after they sold at the trade deadline. Aside from all of the noise, the Orioles have proved relentless in a tight postseason race. They have bounced back from many inconsistencies all year and injuries, as the team traded away catcher Adley Rutschman and currently awaits the return of Samuel Basallo from a rehab assignment. Pete Alonso has continued to do his thing as a marquee slugger. Gunnar Henderson seems to be figuring things out recently at the plate. Baltimore has seen intensified production from their starting rotation, all while getting big contributions from a large sum of their hitters. One of their most important contributors, who has turned out to be one of the league’s top platoon bats this season, has been infielder Coby Mayo. The right-handed infielder has stepped up when the team needs it most against left-handed pitching, his speciality at the dish. Mayo has thrived as one of the league’s top hitters against lefties this season, despite the smaller sample than most. Heading into Monday’s series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, Mayo’s slashline of .277/.342/.663 with an OPS of 1.006 has resembled his dominance against southpaws. In Monday’s game, he showed that his bat is one to be reckoned with in the top of the second inning. Facing Rays’ lefty starter Shane McClanahan, Mayo demolished a fastball deep into the Tropicana Field concourse in left field. It is safe to say it was an absolute moonshot. Mayo launched the ball a distance of 468 feet, the longest home run by an Oriole this season. It was also the fourth longest homer hit by a player this season and the fifth longest by an Orioles hitter since Statcast tracking began in 2015. The 24-year-old has silently been atop the leaderboards against left-handers this season. His 12 homers against southpaws are tied with Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber for the second-most this year, trailing only Matt Olson with 14. After Sunday’s game, Mayo spoke on the mentality among the clubhouse that has had them thriving as a team recently. The Orioles are feeling an energy that they resist shaking off. "I think there’s a fire under us,” Mayo said, according to Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. “Like, ‘Well, we’re not supposed to win. We’re not supposed to get in.’ Then you look at the standings and you’re like, ‘Holy s--t, we’re one game out.’ The fate’s in our hands. It really is.”