The Orioles are promoting infield prospect Coby Mayo from Triple-A Norfolk, manager Brandon Hyde confirmed before Saturday night’s game with the Kansas City Royals.

Mayo’s strong start to the Triple-A Norfolk season has pushed the issue and he’ll replace third baseman Ramón Urías, who is going on the injury list with a mild right hamstring strain, Hyde said.

Mayo, who had a short stint with the O’s in 2024, didn’t make the opening day roster after a lackluster spring training performance (“He was really pressing in spring training and trying way too hard,” Hyde said), but he returned to the Tides and has produced at a high level.

Entering Saturday, Mayo — widely considered a top 15 prospect in MLB, had a .255 average with an .892 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, six home runs and 21 RBIs in 27 games with Norfolk.

“He’s swinging the bat well [and] improving defensively,” Hyde said.

On Friday, O’s general manager Mike Elias said Mayo’s return to the club was “really close.”

When he didn’t make the O’s out of spring training, Mayo at first described returning to Norfolk as a “lose-lose,” in part because he felt he had nothing left to prove in the minors, but he’s made the most of it.

“The production that we’re seeing out of him, the quality of his at-bats, the work that he’s putting in,” Elias said, “he’s going to be a big part of this team.”

Elias added the timing of the promotion is “really important” as he tries to find the “right opportunity” for Mayo to get into games. “We really want Coby to have the right pathway, and he’s certainly putting himself in a really good position for that,” Elias said.

Hyde said Mayo, who was taken out of Norfolk’s lineup on Saturday, should arrive in Baltimore before the start of the game with Kansas City, though Mayo wasn’t in the clubhouse during the period open to the media earlier in the day. The team listed Emmanuel Rivera starting at third base for the second straight night.

Last year, when Mayo made his major league debut, he struggled to provide a thump. In 17 games — a tiny sample — Mayo recorded four hits in 41 at-bats. He struck out 22 times.

Mayo can play third base or first base, with the former being his more natural position in the minors. He has fairly evenly split time between those positions for Norfolk this year. The 23-year-old primarily played third when he arrived in the majors last year.

The O’s having Urías and Jordan Westburg at third and Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn at first made it hard for Mayo to crack the lineup, but Westburg and Urías are both now sidelined with hamstring injuries.

Urías was scratched from the lineup Friday with hamstring soreness. He’s the 14th Oriole to go on the IL this year, and it’s only May.

Hyde said he envisions Urías’ stay on the IL as relatively short. “It’s a minor hamstring strain, but it’s going to keep him out,” Hyde said. “He’s going to have to have a few days off.”

This article has been updated.

Corey McLaughlin is a veteran writer and editor who has covered sports in Baltimore for more than a decade. He has contributed to the Banner since 2022.