Hyde on Mullins

[Frobby]

“Cedric came a long way this last year and what it was was just a lot of confidence,” Hyde said.

“He just started playing with confidence, he started playing with a chip on his shoulder a little bit. It was not the Cedric that I saw the year before, as well as spring training. I started seeing signs of Cedric really making some improvements. I liked some swing adjustments that he made in spring training, and then when he got an opportunity to play during the season, he waited his turn, continued to work hard and got his chance, and he took advantage of the opportunity by just really playing the game aggressive.

“And I love the bunt game that he has. He can drop a bunt down for a single almost any single time. That gives you confidence, also. But the ability to lay a bunt down for a single and then go deep is rare and he has that, along with Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field. A real special ability to see the baseball off the bat and get unbelievable jumps night in and night out.

“I thought he made huge strides. He was a shining moment for us in our organization.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/12/hyde-on-mullins-he-was-a-shining-moment-for-us-in-our-organization.html

A bit over the top, perhaps.   But Mullins is a fun player to watch.

 

[oriole]

For whatever reason I always had high hopes for Mullins. So far it’s been pretty disappointing but I’m glad the organization seems to be giving him every chance to succeed. A switch hitting center fielder with good speed and defense is a fun player to have around if they can get on base. Definitely a fourth OF on a good team but I would be happy with that if that’s what he ends up being. 

[Aristotelian]

Lost me at Gold Glove caliber. I do think he showed improvement and could be a useful 4th OF/pinch runner. 

[Ripken]

So Hyde really likes spiked eggnog.  I'm not here to judge.

[Moose Milligan]

I agree that he's fun.  But a lot of whatever value he has is entrenched in being able to bunt for a hit.  His numbers from 2020 look way better because he was able to tack on bunts for hits.  That's not a recipe for long term success.

He's a good 4th outfielder.  I think his defense is fine and he brings some speed to the table on a club that lacks it.  He'll be able to get at bats in 2021 when Hays inevitably goes down with an injury.

[SteveA]

Hyde said today that Cedric will only be batting left-handed this spring.

[Sports Guy]

Probably smart.  Won’t do much good in all likelihood because he’s still Cedric Mullins but he shouldn’t be doing something he can’t do, so it could help his focus a little more.

[SteveA]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Probably smart.  Won’t do much good in all likelihood because he’s still Cedric Mullins but he shouldn’t be doing something he can’t do, so it could help his focus a little more.

And it's easier to beat out a bunt hit from the left side of the plate.

[wildcard]

I thought his interview was imcompete without a mention of what he was doing to improve vs lefties.  Now we know.

[OrioleDog]

25 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Hyde said today that Cedric will only be batting left-handed this spring.

Like Earl said, have them do what they are good at - the Robinsons few and far between.

Joc Pederson - 128 good and 10 bad last year, 464 good and 50 bad in 2019.

Too many specialists to get '83 Lowenstein like 364 good and 2 bad, but Mullins has some upside if he can put it in the gap a couple times a week.   While we're waiting for Diaz, I think I generally prefer to see Mullins more than Stewart, though Hyde/Elias may care more about that pushing one of Mancini/Mountcastle to DH daily.   I think pitchers would appreciate seeing how much Hays/Mullins/Santander can do the Anderson/Devereaux/Finley things as much as possible.

Mullins could just butcher boy/Baltimore chop any LHP he might see once a week.   Valaika or Severino can take the PA if leverage warrants.

[Bahama O's Fan]

If a player can bunt for a hit at any time, then why not do it almost every time?

[Camden_yardbird]

Because Dan Vogelbach is on first.  Its all situational.  

(I am using vogelbach as an example of the slowest MLB player I could think of)

[Aristotelian]

23 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Probably smart.  Won’t do much good in all likelihood because he’s still Cedric Mullins but he shouldn’t be doing something he can’t do, so it could help his focus a little more.

Did he face any LHP batting lefty in the minors? How did we not realize at some point in his minor league career that he can't hit righty? Good move but hopefully not too little too late.

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Did he face any LHP batting lefty in the minors? How did we not realize at some point in his minor league career that he can't hit righty? Good move but hopefully not too little too late.

It’s pretty typical to stick with switch hitting as long as you can.   My recollection is that Mullins had one year in the minors where he hit decently as a RHB, but it was always his weak side and he certainly has done poorly in the majors as a RHB (.147/.250/.189 in 111 PA.

Now the question is, can he hit LHP any better as a LHB than he did as a RHB?    We’ll see.   

[scOtt]

24 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s pretty typical to stick with switch hitting as long as you can.   My recollection is that Mullins had one year in the minors where he hit decently as a RHB, but it was always his weak side and he certainly has done poorly in the majors as a RHB (.147/.250/.189 in 111 PA.

Now the question is, can he hit LHP any better as a LHB than he did as a RHB?    We’ll see.   

From Hyde's interview it sounded like the O's pushed him to stick with it. On the follow up question Hyde said "He approached us about it the first year we were here." (We being Hyde, Elias and his crew) Now this year they're finally going to let him be strictly LH. Like I said, sounded to me like the O's convinced him to stick it out as long as he could, try to improve.

 

Anyways, I think this can only be a good thing for Cedric. And like Steve said, it's easier to beat out bunts from the left side. At least a step closer to 1B. Drag bunt he could be 2 or 3 steps closer. Big difference for someone with his speed.