Don’t get hung up on last night’s massacre in St. Louis; the offense has actually not been a hot mess lately. Over the last week, the team is hitting .316 with an .878 OPS. Several players who started the season ice-cold—Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, Trey Mancini—are heating up. Especially so is Jorge Mateo, .304 with a .903 OPS in his last seven games. Is the talented but perpetually fringey prospect finally cementing a place on the Orioles as an everyday infielder? (A: All signs point to yes.)
It’s hard to believe, because Mateo is just 26 and has only 140 MLB games under his belt, but the once-hyped prospect has been in professional ball since 2012.