The first half of the 2019 season was an utter disaster for Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins. While the defensive abilities shined in the expansive outfield of Harbor Park, the Cedric Mullins who stepped into the batter’s box each night appeared dejected, beyond frustrated, and a far cry from the typical Mullins full of personality we used to see on the field.
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After posting a .337 OPS through 22 games at the major league level, Mullins recorded a .600 OPS in May with the Norfolk Tides (24 games) and then a .545 OPS in June (29 games) before going 3-24 (.125 average) in six July games and being sent down yet another level to Double-A.
Mullins ended the season on a high note, stringing together 10 extra-base hits, a .284 average, .786 OPS, and 10 stolen bases to help propel the Bowie Baysox into the Eastern League playoffs.
It was a pleasant end to a rough 2019 campaign for Mullins, but questions still remained about whether or not the end of season surge was a result of legitimate changes made or simply a then 24-year-old repeating Double-A for a third time in his career.
An extreme amount of unfair expectations were placed upon Cedric Mullins in 2018 with the impending departure of Adam Jones and it appeared that the pressure was too much for the switch-hitting outfielder out of Campbell University. Fans largely soured on his future, but the organization didn’t.
At just 25 years of age, it isn’t too late for Mullins to hit the reset button, find a new approach, and make an impact at the major league level. That’s exactly what he’s doing right now.
After putting in offseason work at a private facility, ending the days with calluses on his hands from the number of reps he would take, Mullins has taken full advantage of his most recent time with the Orioles due to an injury to Austin Hays.
Mullins has started each of the last eight games in center, recording a hit in seven of those eight games and still finding a way to make an impact in the only game he didn’t record a hit (reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored). In that stretch, Mullins owns a .379/.400/.517 slash line with a 151 wRC+. It may be an extremely small sample size, but it’s encouraging. Best of all, the body language is that of a brand new, refreshed Mullins.
I’ve spent the last year and a half standing by my belief that Anthony Santander can develop into a really good fourth outfielder on a winning Orioles team, providing switch-hitting depth with power, a bit of speed, and experience playing all three outfield spots.
However, as fellow BSL Orioles analyst Gary Armida recently discussed, you never know when a player is going to put all the pieces together and it appears that Santander is doing that now, seriously making me rethink my opinion about Santander’s future. We still haven’t seen him remain consistent over long stretches and I’m not ready to say he’s going to be a future perennial All-Star, but Santander has all the makings of a very solid starting outfielder at the major league level.
Could Cedric Mullins be taking over that role as a reliable fourth outfielder? No one can answer that question definitely, but I do believe we can add Mullins to the list of intriguing storylines over the second half of the season to get a better idea. It would certainly be a testament to the Orioles player development system if they can add Mullins to the list of success stories on this roster.
For this to happen, Mullins has to continue to hit the baseball and he has to do it consistently. The Orioles have a long list of young outfielders pounding on the gates of Camden Yards to get their opportunity, including someone like Ryan McKenna who we may see sooner rather than later.
The more long-term future of the outfield position is even more promising and exciting with the likes of Yusniel Diaz and Heston Kjerstad waiting in the wings (I’m going to continue to remind people of Kyle Stowers as well).
Having a speedy and versatile Cedric Mullins on that same roster would be a pleasant surprise and give the Orioles something they haven’t had in a long time in a game-changer on the basepaths. Again, he has to continue to hit the baseball. If Mullins bat doesn’t stick, keeping him on the roster strictly for speed and defense won’t happen, no matter how good his defense is.
We know Mullins can play defense. According to Baseball Savant, Mullins currently ranks in the 78th percentile in Sprint Speed and the 76th percentile in outfield jump and only Kevin Kiermaier of Tampa Bay and rookie sensation Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox have more Outs Above Average (4) than Mullins (3). Kiermaier and Robert have been regulars since Opening Day while Mullins has started a total of 12 games in the outfield.
We’ve seen that impressive sprint speed and outfield jump in action. This catch from Mullins had a 15% chance of being caught. Hang five stars on this beauty.
Overall, Mullins has been expected to make 91% of catches on balls hit his way, yet he’s a perfect 27-27 in center field for the Orioles, making 100% of his catches. After watching the revolving door of center fielders come through Baltimore last year and witnessing Hays go down to injury yet again, Mullins’ ability to man center field at a high level is comforting.
A lot of questions still remain, but I imagine it would be very hard to find many Orioles fans who had Cedric Mullins on their list of players to watch in 2020. It’s another example of what has made the 2020 season so much fun to watch.
Could anyone have imagined Tommy Milone becoming a possible trade chip? Tanner Scott emerging as a reliable force out of the bullpen at the level he’s currently performing at? Or Pedro Severino sitting atop the WAR leaderboards at the catching position next to J.T. Realmuto? Hopefully, we can come back to this next month when the 2020 season wraps up and call the year a success for Cedric Mullins.
Orioles Analyst
A former high school teacher and coach in the mountains of Virginia, Nick Stevens has been writing about the Baltimore Orioles and their minor league system for five years. When he isn’t at a minor league stadium, he’s enjoying a Wizards game or supporting his alma mater, James Madison University. Co-Host of The Verge.