Ramón Urías received plenty of criticism during a slow start before breaking out last season. Can Jorge Mateo follow suit?
The Orioles entered last night’s game with the highest team ERA in the American League. It’s difficult for an offense to compete for blame in a situation like that, but Baltimore’s bats have done just that against left-handed pitchers.
The Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer dug in earlier this week on the O’s struggles against lefties, and our Tyler Young pointed out that there is no easy fix. Meyer mentioned that Ramón Laureano, Tyler O’Neill, and Gary Sánchez, the three right-handed hitters signed by Elias to hit lefties, entered the week a combined 6-for-63 against southpaws.
O’Neill and Sánchez have found their way to the injured list, and Laureano remains a rotation player even with injuries to O’Neill and Colton Cowser. But while the new guys struggle, the player eliciting the most criticism has been with the Birds since 2021.
The Orioles claimed Jorge Mateo during the middle of their rebuild in 2021. Mateo made a positive first impression with his speed, glove, and a .280/.328/.421 slash line over his first 32 games in Baltimore.
Mateo returned and delivered a career year in 2022. He posted a modest .221 batting average but led the league with 35 stolen bases. More importantly, the speedster won a Fielding Bible award at shortstop while posting a 3.7 bWAR.
Mateo remained at shortstop in 2023 with rookie phenom Gunnar Henderson being pushed to third base. Mateo came out red hot in April, but he cooled to a .217/.267/.340 line over 116 games. Mateo moved to second base last season and posted a similar .229/.267/.401 before suffering a season ending injury in July.
That brings us to this season where things have gone less than stellar. Mateo’s appearances in the lineup have amounted to one giant “Wanna get away?” airline commercial. He holds a .143/.143/.214 line after 28 plate appearances. The O’s record in starts by Mateo (1-9) has become the opposite of a “fun” fact on social media, and he holds a -3 Outs Above Average after a small sample size on defense.
Mateo is hardly the only Oriole struggling, especially against lefties, so what makes him such a focal point? O’s skipper Brandon Hyde has pledged his allegiance to a platoon strategy against starting pitchers, and Mateo has often started over former top prospect Jackson Holliday.
Holliday has represented one of the few positive stories through the first 34 games. He entered last night’s game in Minnesota with a .273/.340/.443 line, 129 OPS+, and four homers. The 21-year-old is just scratching the surface, but he needs at bats against left-handers to take his game to the next level.
Hyde has always made an effort to keep his bench active, but the Orioles need their best players in the lineup right now. The Birds are quickly digging a hole too deep to climb out of this summer.
So, is that it? Should the Orioles just move on from Mateo? The situation feels oddly familiar to a conversation that took place last season.
Ramón Urías slashed .174/.192/.261 over his first 47 plate appearances in 2024. Urías took plenty of heat for struggling at the plate and taking at bats from—checks notes—Jackson Holliday. Frustrated fans latched on to Urías’s numbers as Holliday spent some extra time at Triple-A Norfolk.
Urías snapped out of his funk and became one of Baltimore’s most valuable hitters by the end of the season. He slashed .278/.343/.476 in the second half. Urías provided some much needed stability for Baltimore with a .292/.354/.403 line this season before suffering a hamstring injury last week.
Could Mateo replicate the resurgence? He’s certainly due for a return to the mean. Mateo is a career .222/.267/.366 hitter, and those numbers should still be achievable. He can still make an impact on the basepaths, and he should be able to provide at least average defense at second base. That’s all the Orioles need from a bench bat.
Urías and Mateo have already outlasted a plethora of highly-ranked infield prospects. Urías survived his time as the poster child for the “why isn’t Holliday playing” movement. It remains to be seen whether Mateo can escape the spotlight as the O’s struggle against lefties, but the Orioles appear content to let him try.