Why was Cedric Mullins ever a switch hitter?

[Yardball85]

4 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

While it's a small sample size, I think this point is worth highlighting. If you recall, my biggest issue with Mullins once he established himself as a prospect after his Delmarva season was that his right-handed swing just wasn't good. He was never going to be able to be more than a platoon guy while batting right-handed and trying to fix his right-handed swing I believe affected his left-handed swing.

It's rare for a player to give up switch hitting and find success batting only one way, and then finding success facing pitching of the same side. Honestly, I don't know I  know of a player who has done this at the major league level and found success like Mullins has so far. 

I know earlier you blamed the high school coach which I hope was tongue and cheek since any good high school coach would encourage someone who showed success switch hitting to continue to switch hit. The problem was once he hit the minor leagues that the Orioles probably should have addressed this much earlier on. By Bowie it was pretty clear his swing was just not as fluid and he was not having the same kind of EV from the right side that he got from the left side. Saying that, I can't blame the Orioles player development for not changing him earlier for two reasons, one Mullins did not want to stop trying to switch hit, and two, there is no real precedent that I can remember of a player going one handed then becoming proficient hitting the same sided hand pitching.

Mullins could actually be the precedent that other teams will use with switch hitters who struggle significantly from one side of the plate (almost always right handed) especially in the minor league system where something like this should be identified and corrected as soon as possible.

Keeping two different swings going at the same time is extremely hard to do which is why good every day switch hitters are fairly rare.

 

Saying all that, if Mullins is truly able to effectively hit left-handed pitching long term, his upside goes from 4th outfielder to every day starter. I don't expect Mullins to keep hitting .350, but with his stellar defense in center, if he's able to keep his OBP around .335 to .360 he becomes a pretty good asset in the lineup as well.

Agreed.  Not expecting an OPS over 900 or even 850, but if he is consistently in the 7.50-.825 range with above average defense i center, that is a definite asset.

[interloper]

This just goes to show other ornery, stubborn MLers that - dude - if something's not working, MAKE A CHANGE and work HARD at it. Don't just assume it'll be too hard to do because you've always done it one way and "it's worked in the past".  

CHRIS DAVIS I'M LOOKING AT YOU LIKE FOUR YEARS AGO. 

 

[interloper]

Mullins looks so much like Brian Roberts right now in terms of his whole game, even down to the sub-par arm!   His left-handed swing is beautiful and smooth and compact. He makes CONTACT. He's fast, he's a great leadoff hitter. He's the closest thing we've to peak B-Rob since... peak B-Rob. It's a joy to watch him play. 

And yes, I've counted him out multiple times in the past. It's a pleasure to be super wrong.

[Camden_yardbird]

How many people on this site wrote him off completely?  Its a hot start and we will seebif it lasts but he put up VERY impressive double A numbers.

[Just Regular]

6 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

SG!!!  What do you think we could get for him in a trade?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Let's see...Means and Mullins for Trout and Cole looks about even.

Wins Above Replacement--all

1.	Trout • LAA	1.7
2.	Buxton • MIN	1.6
	Means • BAL	1.6
4.	Martinez • BOS	1.5
5.	Bieber • CLE	1.4
6.	Cole • NYY	1.3
7.	Mullins • BAL	1.3

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Great story this season. 

 

[Frobby]

Was fun watching him motor home from 1B on a Hays double that was cut off in the gap.   

[Ripken]

On 4/27/2021 at 3:47 PM, OrioleDog said:

Let's see...Means and Mullins for Trout and Cole looks about even.

Wins Above Replacement--all

1.	Trout • LAA	1.7
2.	Buxton • MIN	1.6
	Means • BAL	1.6
4.	Martinez • BOS	1.5
5.	Bieber • CLE	1.4
6.	Cole • NYY	1.3
7.	Mullins • BAL	1.3

 

Now do their salaries.

 

 

[DrungoHazewood]

On 4/27/2021 at 3:08 PM, interloper said:

This just goes to show other ornery, stubborn MLers that - dude - if something's not working, MAKE A CHANGE and work HARD at it. Don't just assume it'll be too hard to do because you've always done it one way and "it's worked in the past".  

CHRIS DAVIS I'M LOOKING AT YOU LIKE FOUR YEARS AGO. 

 

Of course Mullins had a history of hitting left-handed pretty well, was continuing to hit left-handed well, while Davis had no such thing to switch to.  With Davis it would be more like trying random things that have no logical reason you'd think they'd work.  "How about standing straight up with your hands around your waist like Mickey Tettleton?  Uhh.. sure coach.  It's really weird and uncomfortable and I can't get the bat into a good hitting position, but why not?"

You can't fix age-related loss of ability to hit.

[DrungoHazewood]

On 4/27/2021 at 3:22 PM, Camden_yardbird said:

How many people on this site wrote him off completely?  Its a hot start and we will seebif it lasts but he put up VERY impressive double A numbers.

I'm happy he's playing well, but I wouldn't exaggerate.  In 2018, in 49 games, he was the 7th or 8th-best hitter his age or younger in the EL.  That was the year Vlad Jr was in the same league OPSing 1.120 at 19.

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm happy he's playing well, but I wouldn't exaggerate.  In 2018, in 49 games, he was the 7th or 8th-best hitter his age or younger in the EL.  That was the year Vlad Jr was in the same league OPSing 1.120 at 19.

He was also repeating the league, having played there during the whole 2017 season (.778 OPS).

Mullins overall was a solid, not spectacular, minor league hitter.   He was better LH than RH.    If his ability to hit left-on-left is real, that gives him a decent chance to be a solid major league hitter with plus range in CF.  I’ll gladly take that.   

[Camden_yardbird]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm happy he's playing well, but I wouldn't exaggerate.  In 2018, in 49 games, he was the 7th or 8th-best hitter his age or younger in the EL.  That was the year Vlad Jr was in the same league OPSing 1.120 at 19.

Yea I frequently call a player with a 141 wrc+ just "okay".  That is by definition well above average, repeating or not.  You and Frobby are just wrong on this one.  You are comparing him to a player identified as a generational talent and Frobby is using subjective terms like "solid" when we quite literally have a statistic that measures what average is.

109, 113, 141 all wrc+ numbers that Mullins put up in the minors...are above average.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, Camden_yardbird said:

Yea I frequently call a player with a 141 wrc+ just "okay".  That is by definition well above average, repeating or not.  You and Frobby are just wrong on this one.  You are comparing him to a player identified as a generational talent and Frobby is using subjective terms like "solid" when we quite literally have a statistic that measures what average is.

109, 113, 141 all wrc+ numbers that Mullins put up in the minors...are above average.

We'll just have to disagree on this.  He hit well in 49 games three years ago, but that was easily his best minor league performance.  He never appeared on any major top 100 prospect lists.  He was solid, but not great.

I'm very glad he's playing well.

[interloper]

6 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Of course Mullins had a history of hitting left-handed pretty well, was continuing to hit left-handed well, while Davis had no such thing to switch to.  With Davis it would be more like trying random things that have no logical reason you'd think they'd work.  "How about standing straight up with your hands around your waist like Mickey Tettleton?  Uhh.. sure coach.  It's really weird and uncomfortable and I can't get the bat into a good hitting position, but why not?"

You can't fix age-related loss of ability to hit.

I was thinking along the lines of whatever the analytics batting coach guy says will increase your bat speed by any amount. I mean try anything. Of course as soon as he did, he's disappeared with a mysterious near-90 day "lower back strain". 

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Camden_yardbird said:

Yea I frequently call a player with a 141 wrc+ just "okay".  That is by definition well above average, repeating or not.  You and Frobby are just wrong on this one.  You are comparing him to a player identified as a generational talent and Frobby is using subjective terms like "solid" when we quite literally have a statistic that measures what average is.

109, 113, 141 all wrc+ numbers that Mullins put up in the minors...are above average.

Nobody said he never had an above average season.  But overall, what I see is a .755 career OPS in the minors, not above .800 at any level if you look at all the games he played there.   That compares with Hays .836, Mancini .829, Sisco .816,, Mountcastle .799, Stewart .790.   I stick by my statement that Mullins was a solid minor league hitter, by no means outstanding, regardless of what he did in 49 games one season.