SARASOTA, Fla. — Coby Mayo thought that he was going to be moving over to first base. 

The Orioles wanted to give Gunnar Henderson some reps at third in their 7-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday to help get the Team USA star ready for the World Baseball Classic before he left for the tournament Sunday. So, in the fifth inning, Henderson moved over to the hot corner. But Mayo, to his surprise, was told to run out to shortstop instead. 

“I think they were kind of trying to play a trick on me and tell me last minute so I didn’t get too nervous, but it was cool,” Mayo said. “It was definitely different to be there. You kind of feel like you’re monitoring the infield. You have every ball technically and, I don’t know, it was cool, it was different, and I just liked that [manager Craig Albernaz], he just said, ‘Hey, just go have fun with it and whatever happens, happens.’” 

Mayo had only ever played shortstop once professionally — two-thirds of an inning in rookie ball — and his time at the position Saturday was just as brief; Albernaz pulled him after an inning while Henderson stayed in through the seventh. 

“The guys were laughing about it a little bit seeing Coby and Gunn swap places,” catcher Adley Rutschman said, unable to contain a grin. “It was good to get a laugh.” 

Though shortstop isn’t part of the plans for Mayo this season, he has been focused on third base as he looks to earn some playing time while Jordan Westburg works his way back from an elbow injury. Mayo got two defensive chances on sharply hit balls deep in the hole, turning one for a clean out and skipping the other to first baseman Pete Alonso. 

Mayo has two errors at third this spring but has been encouraged by the progress he’s made with infield coach Miguel Cairo on the backfields as tries to pick back up the position Baltimore (4-4-1) moved him off of last season. 

“You got to be where your feet are at. If they want you to play third base today, then it’s going to be third base and I’m going to work as hard as I can at it. If it’s first base, it’s going to be first base,” Mayo said. “The same work I did last year at first, if my future is going to be at third right now with the time I’m having right now, I’m going to be working my butt off at third. So, kind of just playing with whatever they roll out with.” 

Rutschman deals damage from both sides

The 2025 season was Adley Rutschman’s first in which he missed time with injury. A pair of strains to each of his obliques limited him to 90 games and he took a step back offensively, a troubling development after he finished the 2024 campaign in an extended slump. 

Rutschman has gotten off to a promising start this spring, including a 2-for-2 performance Saturday with an opposite-field double from the left side of the plate and his first home run of Grapefruit League play from the right. 

Orioles’ Adley Rutschman plugs the gap with a double off the Braves’ Spencer Strider: pic.twitter.com/09aWRoHYuV

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) February 28, 2026

“I think just with where I’m at right now, I’m just trying to get that 1% every day, make sure we’re going through a good process to be at best possible form come day one,” Rutschman said. “So, right now, feeling pretty good. Still trying to get timing and I think, again, great results today I thought. Good process at the plate. Just trying to continue to keep going.” 

The Orioles catcher has also been intent on ensure the oblique issues don’t become a recurring problem. 

I spent “a lot of time during the offseason trying to do body assessments, figure stuff out, seeing if there’s maybe any way to do a better job during the season, stuff I don’t know about,” Rutschman said. “A lot of a lot of different ideas and trying to implement that routine into the season. Obviously, some injuries you can’t prevent, but trying to do the most that you can to put yourself in the best possible position is what we’re trying to do.” 

Honeycutt does it again

It’s hard to get off to a better start to spring training than what Vance Honeycutt has managed thus far. 

Three at-bats in, the Orioles’ 2024 first-round draft pick has three home runs after going deep again in the ninth inning Saturday afternoon. 

Folks, Vance Honeycutt just did it again.

Three at-bats this spring, three home runs for the Orioles’ 2024 first-round pick. pic.twitter.com/9ytLVvkxYT

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) February 28, 2026

“I’m just trying to be early, work through the middle of the field and, honestly, just try to put a good swing on the pitch that I want to hit,” Honeycutt said. “That’s probably the main thing and if you just continuing to try to do that over and over again, you’ll have good results.” 

Honeycutt, 22, has gotten the chance to spend a few days in major league camp on days he was called up for games and been able to rotate in to drills with the Orioles’ coaching staff. He’s picked up on a few defensive notes from outfield coach Jason Bourgeois and feels confident he’s put himself in position to move past his rough 2025 showing. 

“I wasn’t putting too much pressure on myself in spring training or anything like that, but I just did a lot of good work in the off season, and I was just excited to get out here and see some pitches and get some at-bats and see what I could do,” Honeycutt said. 

Around the horn

• Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish went three innings and struck out five batters with zero walks Saturday for his second Grapefruit League start of the spring. Bradish did allow two runs in the second but a misjudged flyball by Taylor Ward in left field was the primary culprit for the damage. He said after the outing he felt great about his command and hasn’t yet started mixing pitches with the intent of working specific counts.

• Albernaz said Saturday morning that Samuel Basallo will be back in the lineup and starting at catcher Saturday after he left Thursday’s game against the Detroit Tigers with abdominal discomfort. Basallo participated in workouts Friday and reported no lingering effects from the play at the plate that prompted Albernaz to pull him.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich. Matt appears as a regular host on The Sun’s “Early Birds” podcast.