Comparing Mountcastle to Goodwin

Ryan Mountcastle had 14 multi-hit games after joining the Orioles on Aug. 21.

We knew it was a special achievement. The Orioles public relations crew has explained why.

The season summary distributed to the media tells us that only one player in club history had more multi-hit games in his first 35 - the immortal Curtis Goodwin with 17 in 1995.

Goodwin made his debut on June 2 and was incredible. He produced multiple hits in 10 of his first 11 games, going 21-for-43 (.489) with - wait for this - 19 singles. He doubled twice on June 9.

The speedy center fielder batted .359/.405/.388 with three doubles and 11 stolen bases in 28 June games.

The next three months:

26 games in July: .229/.267/.325
14 games in August: .214/.227/.286
19 games in September: .180/.219/.279

The month of July included a pair of three-hit games, but you might notice a slight decline.

The Reds didn't care about it. They traded David Wells to the Orioles for Goodwin and minor league outfielder Trovin Valdez on Dec. 26, 1995.

(If you've heard of Trovin Valdez, I'll hand you the keys to this blog right now.)

Goodwin's stint with the Orioles fascinates me. He was a prospect who burst onto the scene, was touted as a rising star and plummeted from sight.

The Rockies, Cubs and Blue Jays also gave Goodwin a shot in the majors, his final season consisting of two games in 1999. He played independent ball from 2000-04 and again in 2007 with the South Georgia Peanuts of the South Coast League.

(If you've heard of the South Georgia Peanuts or the South Coast League, I'll hand you the keys to this blog right now.)

My original point here is that Mountcastle impressed in so many ways and he retained rookie status in 2021. He won't win the American League's award this year, but it would have been really weird to do so and try again the following summer.

In a minimum 110 plate appearances, Mountcastle ranked first among AL rookies in on-base percentage (.386), tied for first in three-hit games (five), second in OPS (.878), batting average (.333) and slugging percentage (.492), third in multi-hit games, fifth in hits (42), tied for sixth in RBIs (23) and eighth in home runs (five).

His 30 hits and 19 RBIs in September led the Orioles. His 17 hits with two strikes tied for the team lead. He posted a .343 average (12-for-35) with runners in scoring position and a .417 average (5-for-12) with RISP and two outs.

I could keep going.

Mountcastle led the Orioles with 42.7 percent of his batted balls (41-for-98) being hit hard, defined by traveling at least 95 mph.

"I think Ryan is an example of somebody whose stats aren't just good," executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said in his Zoom conference call. "We all watched him. The at-bats were quality, the effort was spectacular, he looked good in left field, running hard every play. Just carrying himself like a big leaguer from the first minute up here. And I think that's special.

"Even guys who turn into stars struggle with that transition and the fact that he didn't, it doesn't mean it's going to be smooth sailing for the rest of his career, but it's certainly a good thing and he's a really exciting part of our future."