Orioles prospect Coby Mayo broke a rib at Triple-A Norfolk. Now it’s time to wait.

Coby Mayo is faced with a harsh new reality and a stern test of his patience. There is simply no rehabbing a broken rib.

NORFOLK, Va. — Coby Mayo is faced with a harsh new reality and a stern test of his patience.

There is simply no rehabbing a broken rib.

Mayo, a Norfolk Tides infielder and one of the Baltimore Orioles’ most highly regarded prospects, fractured a rib Thursday when he tumbled down Harbor Park’s third base dugout steps and landed on a railing while chasing a foul ball.

Mayo, 22, was placed on Norfolk’s injured list a day later, with an announcement from the Orioles that “he will miss several weeks.”

It came at a terrible time. Mayo was batting .291 with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs through 42 games, sitting out Friday for the first time this season. With 11 doubles and two triples, his .964 OPS helped enter his name into the conversation to help the parent club this season.

Mayo, though, said he’s trying to take the best view possible. The third-ranked prospect in the organization by MLB.com, he hopes to defy expectations.

“Injuries are a part of baseball,” Mayo said. “I don’t think injuries are ever good, no matter what the timing is. But I’m really optimistic that the injury won’t be a very long thing and that I’ll be able to come back sooner than what a lot of people are probably thinking. So I’m staying positive throughout this whole thing.”

What Mayo, a 2020 fourth-round draft pick out of a Florida high school, does next remains to be seen. Norfolk manager Buck Britton said he’s been told that Mayo’s recovery could take place either with the team or at the Orioles’ player-development complex in Sarasota, Florida.

The International League’s leader in homers and RBIs before the injury, Mayo will be missed either way. Before Sunday’s series finale, Mayo was presented with an award for being named Baltimore’s Minor League Player of the Month for April.

“He was killing the league,” Britton said. “Obviously, he was on the map as a prospect. You hate to see guys that are one injury away or something like that to making their debut go down. Hopefully, it won’t be too long-term to get him back.”

The injury occurred during the fifth inning of an 8-6 loss to Lehigh Valley. Mayo, who was playing third base, said he was so locked in on the foul popup that he lost his bearings.

Still, he’d do it again.

“I would obviously never regret going after a ball,” Mayo said. “I didn’t know kind of like where I was on the field. It so happened to be that I was in the perfect spot where my right foot came down into the dugout. I had no idea.”

This is not uncharted territory for the Orioles. In 2020, major league outfielder Austin Hays fractured a rib after a series of impacts to it.

Britton said big league head athletic trainer Brian Ebel would therefore be a part of Mayo’s recovery process.

Meanwhile, since a rib can’t be exercised like an injured knee or elbow, Mayo has little recourse beyond waiting for time to pass.

“It’s a bone break. You’ve got to just let it heal,” Mayo said. “There’s not much you can do besides just rest and hydrate and nutrition — things that let the body heal it.”

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com.