Mullins does outperform his expected numbers quite frequently and while he's in one of his patented slumps, his "run values" as a player makes him right about average, mainly because his defense at a valued position up the middle is so good.
The Orioles don't have one single player in Double-A of higher who can play plus defensive center field besides Mullins. that's going to give him a long leash on his offensive struggles.
Most players are streaky. Some fans seem to only have a 3-4 week tolerance for players who struggle before they start to get antsy and call for the player to get less playing time or to bring up the "prospect of choice" to replace them.
Mullins is still a valuable player on a contending team because of his defense in CF. He's going to get on a hot streak with the bat at some point and he settle back into the .710 OPS player that he probably is at this point in his career with the bat. Not every batter 1-9 is going to be an average major league hitter or better, but until the Orioles find an outstanding defensive CFer to replace him, he's going to get a very long leash this year.
Besides the guy who said he prayed everyday that McKenna is off the team, perhaps you can point us to the "amount of bile directed at McKenna?" I see most people discussing his merits, whether he will be taken or not, or whether he might be better off in the KBO.
Unless you believe saying that you hope he's claimed is "ridiculous amounts of bile" or "vilifying him." This seems to be a JLC-level over reaction and an over simplification of the actual comments made in this thread IMHO.
Last year Peacock had a Sunday morning package from May through Early September, with all the games at 11:30 AM or noon ET. And they were exclusive to Peacock paying customers and blacked out on MLB app no matter where you were, like the Friday Apple games.
This year Roku is taking over that package. Some differences:
Roku is free. (Though you do have to use an app on your TV or smart device to watch it).
The games will NOT be blacked out on MLB TV.
A few of the games will not be so early.
One similarity is that I believe the games won't be on MASN, only Roku with their own announcers. If you have MLB TV you can watch them; if you don't and normally watch MASN, you'll have to watch via the Roku app.
Anyway, the Orioles are in a couple of the games, with the gametimes moving to earlier on those Sundays:
May 19, Red Sox @ Cardinals, 1:05pm
May 26, Blue Jays @ Tigers, 11:35am
June 2, Twins @ Astros, 1:05pm
June 9, Giants @ Rangers, 1:05pm
June 16, Cardinals @ Cubs, 1:05pm
June 23, Diamondbacks @ Phillies, 11:35am
June 30, Pirates @ Braves, 11:35am
July 7, Diamondbacks @ Padres, 4:10pm
July 14, Yankees @ Orioles, 11:35am
July 21, Brewers @ Twins, 1:05pm
July 28, Reds @ Rays, 11:35am
August 4, Giants @ Reds, 12:05pm
August 11, Angels @ Nationals, 11:35am
August 18, Marlins @ Mets, 12:05pm
August 25, Nationals @ Braves, 12:05pm
September 1, Dodgers @ Diamondbacks, 4:10pm
September 8, Rays @ Orioles, 12:05pm
September 15, Reds @ Twins, 1:05pm
I’d say Mateo has been playing well compared to expectations for him. You can say his SLG is “inflated,” but it is what it is. And his defense has been way better than “fine” of late. He’s playing a stellar 2B. He’s our best defensive 2B and it isn’t close. Going into tonight’s game he’d been worth 0.7 rWAR, 0.5 fWAR in 25 games. Hard to argue that’s not playing well.
I didn't think this would be a possibility at the beginning of the season, but Elias might very well end up shopping for a veteran outfielder that can hit. Mullins and Hays have struggling at the plate since July 2023. Cowser has fallen off a cliff after his red hot start and hasn't adjusted yet to pitchers throwing him more breaking pitches.
While the Orioles have young prospects who have promise. You can't expect them to step up this year to be a major reason this team makes a deep playoff run. Maybe Cowser or Kjerstad answers the call, but I think this team would benefit from an established veteran if Mullins/Hays continue to not hit.
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.