The move that many Orioles fans have been pining for for at least a month here in this lost season was finally made a reality today, as the Orioles announced that they have promoted Cedric Mullins from AAA Norfolk.
Mullins, the Birds’ 13th-round pick in 2015, burst onto the O’s prospect scene in 2016 in Delmarva, hitting .273/.321/.464 with 37 doubles, 10 triples, 30 stolen bases, and 14 home runs in 124 games. He followed that up with a .265/.319/.460 line in Bowie last year. He hit 19 doubles, a triple, and 13 homers for Bowie, but was limited to just 76 games due to a couple hamstring injuries.
This year, he was hitting .313/.362/.512 in 49 games for Bowie before being promoted to AAA Norfolk. For the Tides, he was putting up a .267/.332/.425 line with 17 doubles, three triples, and five homers in 59 games, many in notorious pitcher’s paradise Harbor Park. Combined in 2018 between the two levels, he’s at .288/.366/.465 with 29 doubles, eight triples, 11 home runs, and 21 stolen bases in 22 attempts.
He’s immediately being slotted into centerfield, which Adam Jones must have agreed to. AJ had his typical interesting tweets about the situation.
End of an Era!!!! Embrace Change!!!!
— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) August 10, 2018
Yea imma need y’all to change the tone of this tweet please. Delete and do over. Thx!! pic.twitter.com/HYi2tyfij0
— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) August 10, 2018
We know that it’s not easy to get a decent reading on advanced fielding metrics with a small sample size, so it’s doubtful we’ll learn too much about Mullins’ defensive abilities from that avenue for six-seven weeks of baseball, but it’ll at least be fun to see what our eyes tell us. And Jones moving to right field is obviously a gigantic step up from the likes of Mark Trumbo and Danny Valencia.
Valencia, by the way, was designated for assignment in the corresponding move. Danny had an OPS+ of exactly 100 this season, which makes him perfectly average. He mashed lefties in his typical fashion, putting up an .873 OPS with six homers in 129 AB compared to .610 and three dingers off righties in 146 at bats.
Congrats to Cedric Mullins – let’s see what ya got, kid!
