The Baltimore Orioles reportedly are calling up infielder Connor Norby, a 23-year-old prospect, and he will join the team on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Connor Norby is the No. 6 prospect in the Orioles' system, and he is getting the call after Jorge Mateo was placed on the IL with a concussion. The Orioles have a ton of young talent, and there is still talent in the minor leagues that could either be called up soon or used at the deadline to bolster the team's chances of winning this season. Norby will try to establish himself and get off to a good start in this chance that was created by the Jorge Mateo injury.

While Norby is listed as an infielder, he has played the outfield as well. Throughout his minor league career in the Orioles organization, Norby has played second base, shortstop, and both of the corner outfield positions. It seems like Norby will play second base while Mateo is out, and potentially could give a corner outfielder a day off if the Orioles want to.

At Triple-A this season, Norby is batting .286 with a .374 on-base percentage, .510 slugging percentage and nine home runs. While he is not listed as a top-100 prospect, he clearly does have some potential offensively if he can hold his own against major league pitching.

It is interesting that he gets the call now. Jackson Holliday had a brief stint and was the second baseman for a while for the Orioles, but he struggled and got sent back down to Triple-A, where he has good numbers on the whole for this season. Baltimore has decided that it is better to give Norby a chance instead of thrusting Jackson Holliday back into the majors before they truly want to.

Orioles' outlook with Connor Norby joining the roster

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With Mateo going down, the Orioles are hoping that Norby is able to help them maintain their performance so far this season. As of right now, Baltimore is at 37-20 overall, three games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East.

While Baltimore has trailed the Yankees for much of the last couple of weeks, the team did demonstrate that it could beat New York head-to-head, winning three out of the four games the two teams have played this season.

After establishing themselves as one of the contenders in the American League last season, the Orioles are expecting to take the next step and go deep into the playoffs this year. The roadblock is that while the Tampa Bay Rays were good in 2023, there was no potential in-division roadblock like the Yankees are this year.

It seems like the Orioles and Yankees are two of the best teams in the American League this year, and the two will be battling all season. Baltimore hopes that its youth helps it come out on top.