Orioles first baseman/designated hitter Ryan Mountcastle was removed in the eighth inning of today’s Grapefruit League game after being thrown right-handed, but the team has announced that initial x-rays came back negative. Mountcastle will probably be considered day-to-day for now.
Suffering any kind of significant injury would only add to what has already been an injury-plagued Orioles camp this spring in Sarasota. Baltimore is already lost Jordan Westburg (partial UCL tear), Jackson Holiday (hamate fracture) and Andrew Kittredge (swelling of the shoulder).
The offseason signing of Pete Alonso pushed Mountcastle into an everyday role in Baltimore, but he’s still in the mix for DH reps and some time at first. Injuries to Westburg and Holliday are closely watched Coby Mayo (third base) and commercial acquisition Blaze Alexander (second base) in activities that may begin. That injury creates more opportunity for both Mountcastle and the catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo in the DH area.
Of course, that’s assuming Mountcastle will cut the camp from the club at all. He didn’t seem like a lock to be offered a contract coming off a disastrous 2025 season, but the O’s passed on their chance to cut him. After offering him a contract, they agreed to a one-year contract worth $6.72MM – a contract that included a 2027 club option that gave the O’s control over what would be Mountcastle’s first free-agent season.
The O’s acquired Mountcastle during the offseason and continued to discuss him during the spring trade. Injuries elsewhere on the roster probably made a trade for Mountcastle less likely, but his injury would have ended all possibilities. With today’s clean bill of health, it seems like a potential move is at least on the table. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco looked at other landing spots for Mountcastle last week.
An early rash of injuries has the Orioles pumping the brakes on a potential trade for the aforementioned Mayo. He has seen his name swirl around the rumor mill for the better part of 18 months, but Mayo now look set to open the season at the hot corner. Kyle Goon of the Baltimore Banner looks at the wild ride that Mayo has had over the past year, being asked to change positions multiple times and slowly feeling like his position in the organization is slipping.
Mayo played shortstop before being drafted, was quickly moved to third base, and was told after the 2025 season that he should prepare as a first baseman — a position he played regularly last year. He then watched the Orioles sign Alonso to a five-year contract, kept Mountcastle in arbitration and ensured Basallo would be on the roster by signing him to eight years.
“I think you have to remember that there is a plan for you, it doesn’t matter if it was with the Orioles or another team,” Mayo said of the turmoil he experienced last year. “I’m going to do everything I can to help myself get better. There’s nothing to gain from being angry and upset about the moves the team is making. When we get to the spring, who knew we’d have two guys in the middle of the week? Like, we didn’t know anything.”
New O’s captain Craig Albernaz tells Goon he is “comfortable” opening the year with Mayo as his third baseman. Most likely, that will be the plan. Mayo made three mistakes at the back of the hot corner but hit well to cover those problems for now. He was out of the lineup today, but Mayo is 13 for 26 with a triple, a homer and just one hit in 28 spring plate appearances. He also didn’t take a walk, leading to an oddball line where his OBP looked south of his batting average: .500/.464/.731. (Mayo has two sacrifice flies in the spring, hence the OBP difference.)
