BALTIMORE -- Coby Mayo recorded his first MLB hit on Wednesday night. However, it wasn¡¯t enough to keep the 22-year-old in the big leagues after a tough start to his Orioles career.

On Thursday, Baltimore optioned Mayo (the club¡¯s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 10 overall) to Triple-A Norfolk. The O¡¯s recalled Livan Soto, who will take over Mayo¡¯s spot in their infield mix and serve as a depth option moving forward.

During his first seven-game stint in the Majors, Mayo went 1-for-17 (.059) with three walks, two runs scored and 10 strikeouts. He debuted on Aug. 2 in Cleveland, then went hitless in 18 consecutive plate appearances before singling to open the fifth inning of Wednesday¡¯s 4-1 win over Washington.

¡°This is part of being a young player, and now, he knows what it¡¯s like up here,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said.

Mayo was attacked with a lot of offspeed breaking pitches, which led to his high strikeout rate.

¡°That slider down and away or the changeups down and away, they¡¯re going to keep throwing them,¡± Mayo said on Wednesday night. ¡°They¡¯re going to keep doing it until you prove that you can do it otherwise. It¡¯s the best level in the world. There¡¯s no level higher than this, and there¡¯s a reason why they¡¯re here.¡±

This isn¡¯t the first time a top O¡¯s prospect couldn¡¯t immediately stick in the Majors.

In April, Jackson Holliday (the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball) went 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts during his initial 10-game MLB stint. Now, the 20-year-old is back in Baltimore and has gone 12-for-47 (.255) with five home runs and a .909 OPS in 13 games since returning on July 31.

Last year, outfielder Colton Cowser and right-hander Grayson Rodriguez both struggled during their first tastes of the big leagues, which resulted in returns to Triple-A. Each has had a lot of success for the Orioles since then.

¡°Any time that we¡¯ve had a few of our young prospects come up and then go back down, I think it¡¯s always actually a positive experience that he had up here,¡± Hyde said. ¡°When you go back down, now you understand what the speed of the game is up here, the importance of certain things, just what Major League pitching looks like.

¡°So I think Coby¡¯s going to be better for it, just like Cowser was, just like Grayson was, Jackson earlier this year.¡±

Cowser¡¯s first big league stint was a bit longer than those of Holliday and Mayo. A former top prospect, the 24-year-old outfielder went 7-for-61 (.115) with a .433 OPS over 26 games from July 5 to Aug. 11, 2023. Now, he¡¯s an American League Rookie of the Year front-runner this season.

It isn¡¯t easy to make the jump from Triple-A to MLB, and Cowser can tell Mayo that.

¡°No matter how much people say it¡¯s the same game, it¡¯s not, between Triple-A and here. I think it gets to a point where it does start to feel the same, and that can take a little bit of time,¡± Cowser said. ¡°I was told this last year: It¡¯s never a bad thing to come up to the big leagues and experience a little bit of failure. What¡¯d he have, like, 16 at-bats, 17, something like that? That¡¯s nothing. I have all the faith in the world in him.¡±

Mayo will go back to Norfolk, where he slashed .301/.375/.586 with 22 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs and 61 RBIs in 77 games earlier this year. He¡¯ll also continue to work on his defense at third base, where he made only one error during his brief stint with Baltimore.

It would be surprising if Mayo doesn¡¯t return to the big leagues this season. All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg (fractured right hand) won¡¯t be back until late September at the earliest, and Soto is unlikely to assume a starting role. For now, Ram¨®n Ur¨ªas should play a lot at third.

The future is still bright for Mayo, whose 65-grade power is the best in the Orioles' farm system. At some point -- whether that¡¯s later this year or next -- he should become an integral part of Baltimore¡¯s lineup.

¡°He¡¯s going to hit a lot of home runs in this league,¡± Hyde said.