Jorge Mateo

Jorge Luis Mateo (born 23 June 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020 for the San Diego Padres.

New York Yankees
Mateo signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent in January 2012, receiving a $250,000 signing bonus. He made his professional debut that season for the Dominican Summer League Yankees 2 and batted .255 with one home run and eight RBIs in 14 games. He played for the Dominican Summer League Yankees 1 in 2013, compiling a .287 batting average with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in 64 games, and the Gulf Coast Yankees in 2014, slashing .276/.354/.397 in 15 games. In 2015, while playing for the Charleston RiverDogs and the Tampa Yankees, Mateo posted a combined .278 batting average with two home runs, 11 triples, 40 RBIs, and 82 stolen bases in 117 total games between both clubs. He was named Florida State League Player of the Week for the week of 17 July.

Mateo was ranked by Baseball America as the top Yankees minor league prospect ahead of Gary Sánchez and Aaron Judge prior to the 2016 campaign. He also received a non-roster invitation to spring training. He spent the season back with Tampa, where he was a Mid-Season All-Star and was named to appear in the All-Star Futures Game. However, on 6 July 2016, Mateo was suspended for two weeks due to violating the team's code of conduct policy, and could not participate in the Futures Game. He reportedly expressed his displeasure to Yankees executives about not being promoted to Double-A Trenton. Mateo finished 2016 with a .254 batting average, eight home runs, 36 stolen bases, and 47 RBIs. He spent time at second base following the arrival of Gleyber Torres. The Yankees added Mateo to their 40-man roster after the season. He began 2017 with Tampa and was promoted to the Trenton Thunder in late June. He was a Mid-Season All-Star and Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of 2 July.

Oakland Athletics
On 31 July 2017, the Yankees traded Mateo, along with Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian to the Oakland Athletics, in exchange for Sonny Gray. Oakland assigned him to the Midland RockHounds and he finished the season there. In 129 total games between Tampa, Trenton and Midland, he batted .267 in 532 at bats with 12 home runs, 18 triples, 57 RBIs, and 52 stolen bases.

In January 2018, Mateo was named the 64th best prospect in baseball. In April, Baseball America named him as having the best speed of all minor league players, ahead of Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn. That season, playing for the AAA Nashville Sounds he hit .230/.280/.353 in 470 at bats with 3 home runs, 16 triples, 45 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases while being caught 10 times.

Mateo opened the 2019 season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. Mateo was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game. In 2019 he led the minor league in triples, with 14. Mateo was included in the Athletics' 60-man player pool prior to the start of the 2020 season.

San Diego Padres
On 30 June 2020, the Athletics traded Mateo to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Junior Perez. Following the trade, he was considered San Diego's 13th best prospect. He was activated and started his first career game as the left fielder on 13 August. On 27 August, in the second game of a doubleheaders against the Seattle Mariners, Mateo recorded his first MLB hit on a ground rule double. He hit just .185/.269/.454 in 22 games in the big leagues that year. Mateo hit his first major league home run on 29 April 2021, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After hitting .207/.250/.322 through 57 games, he was designated for assignment by the Padres on 3 August 2021.

Baltimore Orioles
On 5 August 2021, Mateo was claimed off of waivers by the Baltimore Orioles. In 2021, he batted .247/.293/.376 with 4 home runs, 14 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 89 games between the Padres and Orioles. He was shut down for the season in mid-September after experiencing right lumbar inflammation.

In the 2022 season, Mateo started on the Orioles opening day roster at shortstop. He finished the season batting .221/.267/.379 with 13 home runs, 50 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases in 494 at-bats. He led the major leagues with the most stolen bases in the regular season of 2022, trailed by teammate Cedric Mullins by one. Mateo won the Fielding Bible Award as the best defensive shortstop in MLB for the 2022 season, making him the first Oriole to win the award at that position.

Mateo achieved a 1.062 OPS through April of the 2023 season, but he lost playing time to Gunnar Henderson in 2023 after hitting just .105/.128/.132 through 11 games in May. He concluded the regular season with 32 stolen bases and .217 batting average and 0.617 OPS, having more success batting against left-handed pitching. Following injuries to both centerfielders Cedric Mullins and Aaron Hicks, Mateo made his Orioles centerfield debut on 5 and 6 August. He joined the team in the postseason 2023 ALDS against the Texas Rangers and went 4-for-4 in Game 2, becoming just the 6th player in MLB History to get four hits while batting ninth. After the season, Mateo agreed to a $2.7 million contract to avoid arbitration.