Lineup shuffling always in the cards for Orioles

KANSAS CITY – As mock lineups go, this one seemed to border on the absurd.

MLB Network made a stop in Sarasota on its camp tour last month and took a shot at a potential order for the Orioles. Gunnar Henderson leading off and Adley Rutschman batting second were indisputable given the past, but Cedric Mullins hitting third seemed, to put it kindly, like an extreme reach.

Mullins was a prototypical leadoff hitter earlier in his career, with 398 starts easily his most, but he slid down later due to injuries, a decline in production since his 30/30 season, and other alternatives. He batted 46 times in the seventh spot last season, 32 times in the eighth and 24 in the sixth.

Manager Brandon Hyde penciled in Mullins third only one time and it happened on Sept. 13, 2024 in Detroit – a game most remembered for Gunnar Henderson’s two-out triple in the ninth that broke up a no-hitter. The Tigers used an opener, Beau Brieske, and Hyde got a little more creative.

The Orioles played their ninth game yesterday and Mullins was used in a seventh different spot, which STATS confirmed is a record in the modern era. The Athletics’ Billy McKinney in 2022 and the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez in 2015 were used in six. Hyde had Mullins third behind Henderson and Jordan Westburg, who’s done some moving of his own.

MLB Network was right, and it took only nine games.

Westburg has hit first, second, third and fourth. Tyler O’Neill has been third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Ryan Mountcastle batted cleanup, sixth, seventh and eighth for the only time in his career.

Mountcastle went from eighth to fourth in the first two games of this series. Mullins batted cleanup Friday for only the second time in the majors.

The second spot was the only one occupied by one player, but Adley Rutschman sat out yesterday and Westburg replaced him. Six different players have hit sixth and seventh, and five have hit fourth, fifth and ninth.

Defense isn’t the only area on the team that provides flexibility. So, too, does the lineup. Players seem comfortable moving up and down. They must remember to check the card after arriving at the ballpark. Assumptions can't be made anymore.

Hyde isn’t doing this just because he can. There are reasons for the constant movement, which could slow as the season progresses.

“Usually it’s depending on the starting pitcher and kind of where we’re at, but I think you’ll see that settle in a little bit more as we go along and guys fit in,” Hyde said.

“(Yesterday), without Rutschman in there it changes some things, so when guys are getting days off, thing change depending on the starting pitcher, things change matchup-wise. But probably settle in a little bit more now that Gunnar’s here.”

Mullins reached base three times yesterday with a bunt single and two walks in an 8-1 win, and he’s batting .313 with a 1.092 OPS. The Royals are starting left-hander Kris Bubic today, which could remove Mullins from the lineup or at least send him down toward the bottom. Hyde could heed the reverse splits, with left-handers hitting .305/.388/.513 against Bubic in his career.

Whatever the order turns out to be, Hyde is hoping that his club can build on yesterday’s performance and ditch the inconsistencies. The Orioles have scored 12, nine, eight and eight runs in their wins, and two, one, zero, four and two runs in their losses.

The last four hitters in yesterday’s lineup - Heston Kjerstad, Ramón Urías, Gary Sánchez and Jackson Holliday - produced six RBIs. Holliday tripled, singled twice and drove in two runs.

“I thought Heston swung the bat well, Jackson swung the bat extremely well,” Hyde said. “Urías hit a homer today, too, that would have gone out anywhere except the wind was blowing straight in.

"I think we’re dangerous up and down the order. We’re dangerous off the bench. We have the ability to put a lot of runs up on the board. We’ve shown that for the four wins. Now we’ve just got to be a little more consistent.”