How much longer for Mullins

[Roy Firestone]

Look, the guy has been a fine player for us in the past, but this is much more than a bad slump.The guy is hitting .176 and despite the fact that he plays a solid defensive CF, he doesnt have much of an arm either. Right now his OPS is a measly .539...it's simply NOT good enough for a major league player. I dont care that he hit the ball hard in spots tonight .This isnt horse shoes...close doesnt count......he has absolutely no power, and doesn't drive the ball anywhere anymore...yes, he runs well, but we have other players who run reasonably well...including Norby, and when he returns, Mateo...this team doesnt have the luxury to keep better hitters on the bench...I could see Hays in CF...or Cowser, but Mullins looks finished just shy of his  30th birthday...use him as a defensive replacement or as a base runner...he DOESNT BELONG in this lineup and he's gotten a TON of chances...

[Aristotelian]

Appears they are already phasing him out. I think he will keep getting opportunities but right now he is not an everyday starter. Cowser has shown good defense. He has a chance to win the starting job down the stretch but he is not a sure thing to outperform Cedric. I agree, Cedric hit a wall last year and hasn't shown any sign of breaking out since.

[maybenxtyr]

They don't have a replacement... he's going to get a pretty long run. Cowser had an excellent start, but he's not shown that he's the answer just yet. If the hits start falling, he's going to start more.

[Three Run Homer]

At this point, I'd rather see any of Cowser, Hays, Santander or Stowers in the lineup ahead of Cedric.  

[vab]

Yeah, he has to be relegated to that late inning defensive replacement/pinch-runner role for now (which he already pretty much has been) but I think he's still going to play an important role at some point along the line here. 

[Hallas]

They're going to give him more time, if only because he plays center.  He did make good contact on 2 balls today that ended up being loud outs.

[e16bball]

28 minutes ago, Hallas said:

They're going to give him more time, if only because he plays center.  He did make good contact on 2 balls today that ended up being loud outs.

Yeah, he’s had no luck over the last few games he’s played.

In his last 17 PAs, he’s had 6 hard hit balls (104, 98, 98, 99, 103, and 97) — and they’ve all been outs. That’s absolutely brutal for a guy who was already slumping.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

7 minutes ago, e16bball said:

Yeah, he’s had no luck over the last few games he’s played.

In his last 17 PAs, he’s had 6 hard hit balls (104, 98, 98, 99, 103, and 97) — and they’ve all been outs. That’s absolutely brutal for a guy who was already slumping.

Mullins was making a lot of weak contact before, but even now when he's making some solid contact he still can't buy a hit.

[deward]

46 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

They don't have a replacement... he's going to get a pretty long run. Cowser had an excellent start, but he's not shown that he's the answer just yet. If the hits start falling, he's going to start more.

Cowser has looked fine. Those hard hit balls will turn into results soon enough.

[Sydnor]

2 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

Look, the guy has been a fine player for us in the past, but this is much more than a bad slump.The guy is hitting .176 and despite the fact that he plays a solid defensive CF, he doesnt have much of an arm either. Right now his OPS is a measly .539...it's simply NOT good enough for a major league player. I dont care that he hit the ball hard in spots tonight .This isnt horse shoes...close doesnt count......he has absolutely no power, and doesn't drive the ball anywhere anymore...yes, he runs well, but we have other players who run reasonably well...including Norby, and when he returns, Mateo...this team doesnt have the luxury to keep better hitters on the bench...I could see Hays in CF...or Cowser, but Mullins looks finished just shy of his  30th birthday...use him as a defensive replacement or as a base runner...he DOESNT BELONG in this lineup and he's gotten a TON of chances...

Today in his first plate appearance he walked. The line drive he hit in his second plate appearance had an XBA of .660 and the line drive he hit in his third plate appearance had an XBA of .790. I don’t know whether he’ll get out of the current slump, but that’s terrible luck.

I still think Mullins can be a valuable player. He’s had an XBA over .500 on a few other balls in games he has played recently that have been caught. They are already limiting his playing time.

While Cowser can play CF, the idea that Hays can play CF has no real basis. His already poor jumps have gotten worse this year. His sprint speed is down to 26.9 ft/s. I’m fact, Santander currently covers more feet in the outfield because of his superior jumps. I get that he hit 2 home runs yesterday, so some people are back in on Hays, but playing him in CF is a terrible idea.

[Safelykept]

2 hours ago, Sydnor said:

Today in his first plate appearance he walked. The line drive he hit in his second plate appearance had an XBA of .660 and the line drive he hit in his third plate appearance had an XBA of .790. I don’t know whether he’ll get out of the current slump, but that’s terrible luck.

I still think Mullins can be a valuable player. He’s had an XBA over .500 on a few other balls in games he has played recently that have been caught. They are already limiting his playing time.

While Cowser can play CF, the idea that Hays can play CF has no real basis. His already poor jumps have gotten worse this year. His sprint speed is down to 26.9 ft/s. I’m fact, Santander currently covers more feet in the outfield because of his superior jumps. I get that he hit 2 home runs yesterday, so some people are back in on Hays, but playing him in CF is a terrible idea.

Agree with most everything thats been said, but he needs to get going because when Mateo comes back its either Norby or Stowers back to Norfolk. By the look on his face last night he even thought it was bad luck or execution on that bunt attempt.

[emmett16]

I believe he’s under contract through 2025, so I’d say we will be seeing a good bit of him until next October.  

[sportsfan8703]

The rest of the offense just does the “swing for the fences” approach everytime we face an Ace. We’ll get bounced early in the playoffs unless this team grows up. 

[interloper]

Weird timing for this OP as usual for Roy. It's like he doesn't even watch the games.

Mullins walked, stole a base, scored a run, and struck two balls hard right at someone. Best he's looked in a long time IMO. If you can't see that, you just don't know ball, sorry. Use your eyes.

Edited June 6 by interloper

[Moose Milligan]

Yeah he hit two right on the nose. He’s looked better.