Cedric Mullins on his hot hitting, bunt hits and more

The Orioles' 2015 draft class has been well represented in several of their recent wins. The club's top pick in that draft, taken No. 25 overall, was DJ Stewart. Then 11 picks later, the Orioles selected Ryan Mountcastle. Much later in round 13, with overall pick No. 403, they added Campbell University outfielder Cedric Mullins.

The Orioles have won six of nine games to move into contention for the No. 8 American League playoff spot. And homegrown players including those three and pitchers Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer have helped to lead the way.

"I think it's awesome," Mullins said today during a Zoom interview with Baltimore media. "It definitely creates a comfortable environment for us since we've been playing with each other for years. And for guys that are right around the corner as well that we've had experience with, they don't have any issues, you know, asking us questions. And getting the idea of the process of being an everyday grinder in the big leagues. I think it's very effective for our organization to have us coming through."

Seeing these players do what they've done can show not only that the talent is there, but that the Orioles did a solid job in developing these players. And timing their call-ups for readiness to have big league success.

It didn't come right away for Mullins, though, in his career or even during the 2020 season.

He was the starting center fielder last year but was optioned to the minors when he was batting .094 over 74 plate appearances. He would go to Triple-A Norfolk and later be sent down to Double-A Bowie. But late last year at Bowie he started to get his game back on track. He hit .324 in the last 10 regular-season games for the Baysox and then batted .353 in eight Eastern League playoff games. When the year ended, the Orioles sent him to work with hitting coach Rick Strickland in St. Louis, a coach who has worked with other major leaguers, including Boston's Andrew Benintendi.

So finishing strong and then making some tweaks over the winter were both meaningful for Mullins, and the results are showing now.

"I'd say it's a combination of both," Mullins said. "Going into the offseason knowing that I do have the capability of having some success. It was just a matter of finding how to be more consistent. Taking that thought process to the offseason and working out in St. Louis really helped."

Mullins is batting .296/.352/.420 in 30 games with nine runs and five steals. And even this year he started slowly. He was 1-for-13 after 10 games and on Aug. 8 was optioned out to the Bowie alternate site. But after he returned a week later, he eventually started to hit.

Mullins is 5-for-10 his last two games, and batting .400 (10-for-25) in six games in September with a double, triple, homer and three RBIs. His batting average is tied for the eighth-highest in the American League this month and he's hit safely in all six games. Mullins is batting .338 (23-for-68) in 21 games since being recalled from the alternate site.

He leads the majors with seven bunt hits. The next closest player has five bunt hits. The most bunt hits by an Oriole in club history is 17, done twice, by Melvin Mora (2001) and Corey Patterson (2006), according to STATS, LLC.

"I think it's not even I could say the surprise factor of it, because guys I know I will bunt," he said. "Me being able to pick certain counts and just making sure that I get a quality pitch to lay a bunt down in a situation where I feel like it could change the momentum of the game in our favor. Definitely something I look to do."

Now some of the young Orioles will try to take have another good weekend against the Yankees after going 3-1 last weekend. They again send out two of their youngest pitchers, with Akin starting the late game tonight and Dean Kremer starting on Saturday afternoon.

"What impressed me the most was their ability to work fast and be aggressive in the zone," Mullins said of Akin and Kremer. "Those two factors are able to help create some momentum for our offense, and we've been able to give them run support, which is awesome."