Jump to content

Cedric Mullins - 30/30 ?


RZNJ

Recommended Posts

He's awesome. Unquestionably. Love the guy and hope he reaches 30/30, which I think he will. 

However, I'm gonna be that guy and bring up the fact that his defense has been pretty (read: hugely?) disappointing this season. I didn't really notice it until I started to note a string of batted balls that he probably should have caught with his speed out there. The numbers don't lie either: 

.984 F% with 5 errors

-4.8 UZR

-1.1 RngR

Pretty much every defensive metric I could find is below average. So that's something I hope he looks to improve in the offseason. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

He's awesome. Unquestionably. Love the guy and hope he reaches 30/30, which I think he will. 

However, I'm gonna be that guy and bring up the fact that his defense has been pretty (read: hugely?) disappointing this season. I didn't really notice it until I started to note a string of batted balls that he probably should have caught with his speed out there. The numbers don't lie either: 

.984 F% with 5 errors

-4.8 UZR

-1.1 RngR

Pretty much every defensive metric I could find is below average. So that's something I hope he looks to improve in the offseason. 

I almost find it hard to believe that his defense from a true talent perspective is below average. His range alone should put him in the black IMO. I would want to know: is this a situation of a few flukey plays skewing the averages, something wonky about how OPACY OF is scored***, something more fundamental to his game, etc.?

*** This is a question that's been raised in the past that has never really been answered, I think there are some articles / detailed OH posts on it that I might try to dig up

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, BohKnowsBmore said:

I almost find it hard to believe that his defense from a true talent perspective is below average. His range alone should put him in the black IMO. I would want to know: is this a situation of a few flukey plays skewing the averages, something wonky about how OPACY OF is scored, something more fundamental to his game, etc.?

It takes a good two years of defensive data to show much of anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

I almost find it hard to believe that his defense from a true talent perspective is below average. His range alone should put him in the black IMO. I would want to know: is this a situation of a few flukey plays skewing the averages, something wonky about how OPACY OF is scored, something more fundamental to his game, etc.?

Yeah maybe. Every few games it seems like he dives for a ball that he should catch and just doesn't come up with it. Or something drops in front of him, or gets behind him. It's weird. Other times he's smooth as silk and catches a ball no one else on the team could get to. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

It takes a good two years of defensive data to show much of anything.

Fair point, but the eye test and the metrics line up in this case for me. I watch every single game and he just isn't making the plays he should make out there in my opinion. But it's also his first full season after not really playing much last year also. So I think the jury is still out for sure. He's a guy that will work to improve also. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, interloper said:

Fair point, but the eye test and the metrics line up in this case for me. I watch every single game and he just isn't making the plays he should make out there in my opinion. But it's also his first full season after not really playing much last year also. So I think the jury is still out for sure. He's a guy that will work to improve also. 

I'm not at all disagreeing with anything you said, I was just discussing the validity of defensive metrics over a small sample size.

If Mullins keeps hitting like this I'll take this level of defense.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cedric's gotta pick it up a little bit if he wants to get 30/30.

I'm not knocking him, not by any stretch.  But August wasn't great for him, he hit .252/.310/.485 for a .795 OPS.  He did, however, hit 7 homers and also stole 7 bases.  Obviously if he can repeat that, he hits 30/30.

We all need to remember that he's never played a full big league season before and he might be a little tired at this point.  That wouldn't be surprising.  I am hoping that's all that his recent slump is a result of and that most of this summer wasn't a mirage for him.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Cedric's gotta pick it up a little bit if he wants to get 30/30.

I'm not knocking him, not by any stretch.  But August wasn't great for him, he hit .252/.310/.485 for a .795 OPS.  He did, however, hit 7 homers and also stole 7 bases.

We all need to remember that he's never played a full big league season before and he might be a little tired at this point.  That wouldn't be surprising.  I am hoping that's all that his recent slump is a result of and that most of this summer wasn't a mirage for him.  

Dog days...  + fatigue...

But the weather's cooling off.. and there's something to shoot for.

I'm hopeful

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

I almost find it hard to believe that his defense from a true talent perspective is below average. His range alone should put him in the black IMO. I would want to know: is this a situation of a few flukey plays skewing the averages, something wonky about how OPACY OF is scored***, something more fundamental to his game, etc.?

*** This is a question that's been raised in the past that has never really been answered, I think there are some articles / detailed OH posts on it that I might try to dig up

 

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

It takes a good two years of defensive data to show much of anything.

 

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm not at all disagreeing with anything you said, I was just discussing the validity of defensive metrics over a small sample size.

If Mullins keeps hitting like this I'll take this level of defense.

 

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

Anyway, now I feel bad for derailing this thread. I should have started a defense thread. 

COMMENSE THE 30/30 WATCH

 

To further derail the topic... These articles delve a bit into what I was talking about. I'm not sure this question has ever been satisfactorily answered one way or the other...

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2011/10/bad-outfield-defense-or-bad-fielding.html

https://medium.com/ro-baseball/outfielders-advanced-defensive-metrics-566911e28268

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Who woulda thunk it?   Cedric has 24 homers and 25 steals with about 30 games to go.   It's going to be close.    Besides already having a great breakout season, that would be a great accomplishment.   I don't believe an Oriole has ever done it.

He has 24 homers in 128 games which is a shade under 1 per 5 games so if he continues his seasonal pace, he should just make it.   Go Cedric!!!!!

LOVE!!! I LOVE Cedric and thanks for the thread/recognition! HUGE fan! I watched him play so much at Bowie. Always cheering for him!

Also, like how it was mentioned if Mateo improved on his bunting in the offseason (similar to Mullins) might help him even more.

One thing that sets Mullins apart, his worth ethic. A great leader to have around a club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Posts

    • Great post.  I like your optimism, and I'll try to believe this team can turn things around just in the nick of time like some classic Hollywood baseball movie.
    • I think Elias has mostly done an excellent job with one exception -- he seems like he treats the bullpen like an afterthought.  I doubt that will happen again this coming offseason. I don't really blame him for the current offensive struggles overall.  Just too many injuries late in the season.  That said I don't understand how we went from dealing Austin Hays, Connor Norby and Ryan McKenna just so we could land the right handed bat of, gulp, Austin Slater.  
    • Man this team has no shot. Right now they may not even make it. 
    • Most of these guys are only playing because of injuries to starters.  But Austin Slater I'm guessing was brought in to replace the traded Austin Hays.  The problem is that Slater has shown little ability to hit lefties this year, after hitting them pretty well up to this season.  This must be why two teams dropped him before the O's picked him up.  I know he was let go much earlier in the season, but is Ryan McKenna actually worse than this guy?  I don't understand how the front office went from releasing McKenna to later trading Hays and Norby -- thinking their right handed bats could adequately be replaced by someone like Slater.  
    • I'm willing to give Elias some rope because of the strict limitations he was under with JA but he better not be so damn conservative again this year and let every serviceable FA out there sign with other teams while he's busy picking up reclamation projects again. Minus Burns of course.  
    • I agree completely that it’s irrelevant whether it worked.  But I don’t agree that bunting is clearly the right decision in either scenario, and I think that decision gets worse if it’s intended to be a straight sacrifice rather than a bunt for a hit. To be clear, the outcome you’re seeking in tonight’s situation, for example — sacrifice the runners over to 2nd/3rd — lowers both your run expectancy for the inning (from 1.44 to 1.39) and your win expectancy for the game (from 38.8% to 37.1%). It increases the likelihood of scoring one run, but it decreases the likelihood of scoring two runs (which you needed to tie) and certainly of scoring three or more runs (which you needed to take the lead).  And that’s if you succeed in getting them to 2nd/3rd. Research indicates that 15-30% of sacrifice bunt attempts fail, so you have to bake in a pretty significant percentage of the time that you’d just be giving up a free out (or even just two free strikes, as on Sunday). The bunt attempt in the 3rd inning on Sunday (which my gut hates more than if they’d done it today) actually is less damaging to the win probability — decreasing it only very slightly from 60.2% to 59.8%. More time left in the game to make up for giving up outs, I guess, and the scoreboard payoff is a bit better (in the sense that at least you’d have a better chance to take the lead).   At the bottom of it, these things mostly come down to gut and pure chance. The percentages are rarely overwhelming in either direction, and so sometimes even a “lower-percentage” play may work better under some circumstances. You would have bunted both times. I wouldn’t have bunted either time. Hyde bunted one time but not the other. I don’t know that anyone is an idiot (or even clearly “wrong”) for their preference. Either approach could have worked. Sadly, none of them actually did.
    • Wasn't Hyde always thought of more or less as a caretaker? I'm on the fence about him coming back. I totally get the injuries and that needs to be taking into consideration but man this collapse some heads have to roll who's I'm  mot sure 
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...