Mullins big night, Friday farm pitching and more

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 18, 2021, 8:29pm

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Excellent pitching, timely hitting, a curtain call and a win.

Pretty good Friday night in Birdland.

Cedric Mullins hit his sixth career leadoff homer and third this year, and then produced his third career two-homer game, with all three coming this year. He and the pitchers led the Orioles past Toronto 7-1. When Mullins blasted a three-run homer in the eighth he put an exclamation point on a win to snap an eight-game losing streak. He had a 3-for-4 night with his first four-RBI game and continues his bid to become an American League All-Star.

"The dugout erupted and what a great night for Cedric," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said via Zoom after the game about Mullins' second home run and his 11th of the year. "The crowd was unbelievable tonight. That's the most energy in the ballpark that I've seen here in three years, and I feel like our guys really fed off that. For the fans to recognize Ced and his great night, that was a super cool moment."

Mullins is now batting .322/.395/.540 with 18 doubles, three triples, 11 homers and 23 RBIs. His OPS is now .935. He began the night one hit behind Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the AL lead, but now is two ahead of him after the O's pitchers held Guerrero hitless.

Mullins now ranks third in the AL in batting average and fifth in OPS. The next three after him in OPS are Nelson Cruz, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez. He's keeping company with some of the best sluggers in the league.

"That was awesome," Mullins said "First curtain call ever. I was kind of nervous to go back out there, but it felt amazing. It was just a surreal moment. It was awesome to be able to walk back up and tip my hat. The team was excited for me. I came back in and they congratulated me on the day. I knew we had to go back out there and finish the game."

They did that as Mullins continued his hot month of June. In 14 games this month he is batting .426 (23-for-54) with four doubles, a triple, five homers and nine RBIs.

He's sure not slowing down.

In an on-field interview before Friday's game Mullins was asked about the All-Star talk.

"Yeah it's kind of hard to ignore it with people continuing to bring it up," he said. "But once I play ball, I have to put that aside and try to help the team each day. And the All-Star game will be what it is."

In addition to giving the Orioles outstanding production on offense and defense, Mullins is trying to provide some leadership for his teammates as well.

"Just trying to lead by example," he said. "I know I've not always been the most vocal guy, but I do feel like my actions speak volumes. Just continuing to be a good role model to guys that are coming behind me and continue to try and push guys that are with me right now."

Hyde has noted Mullins' improved confidence a few times this year. Mullins said being confident has been a big part of what he's doing on the field right now.

"I would agree with that," he said. "It's not just the success but the preparation I know I put in that is what led to being confident, and that has helped me."

I asked Mullins if he had time to notice the Orioles' play on the farm this year.

"Occasionally, they get brought up," he replied. "We're definitely glad for those guys and great for them to perform well. Nice for them to have a season, based on what happened last year. I'm excited for those guys to be able to come up and show us what they've got. It's tough having to miss an entire season like that and then have to come back and try to get re-acclimated with the lifestyle of grinding through the minor leagues. But it's awesome to see those guys do well."

Speaking of the farm: Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was on the "Big Bad Morning Show" Friday on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore. He told the hosts that, despite the O's struggles at the big league level, he did not intend to rush any top prospects to the big leagues anytime soon.

"Well it's great to see guys do well," said Elias. "You never know, even when someone is given a big bonus or is a big-ranked prospect, you never really know until they are out there playing real minor league games. And we didn't have that last year. We had a lot of action at the alternate site or instructional league - and we keep stats during those things - but you just don't know until they are out facing other uniforms and people are trying to win the games against you.

"So it's been great to see, by and large, our big prospects really performing. But, we are going to remain focused and disciplined with the player development first and foremost. So, we're going to be moving guys when it's in their best interest to move. It can damage a guy's long-term career if he doesn't get enough time in Single-A or Double-A or Triple-A if they are still working on stuff. So that is part of a rebuild, is taking those steps carefully.

"Now, that said, we are eyeing Triple-A very carefully every night, every day. And where we have spots where we are experiencing struggles on the major league roster - and there are a few right now - we're taking a look at what people are doing in Triple-A and looking for help there. So, there can be moves any night based on what options are available at Triple-A.

"But we're not going to ... the last thing we are going to do is rush along top prospects just because we're feeling anxious at the major league level."

That is some nice pitching: Three of the Orioles' four minor league affiliates lost last night, with only high Single-A Aberdeen winning, but the starting pitching was outstanding organization-wide.

At Triple-A Norfolk, lefty Zac Lowther threw five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. At Double-A Bowie, right-hander Gray Fenter gave up one hit over five scoreless frames. For Aberdeen, righty Kyle Brnovich threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings and fanned seven. At low Single-A Delmarva, right-hander Ignacio Feliz threw four scoreless innings and fanned seven.

The four pitchers combined to throw shutout ball over 19 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits with five walks and 23 strikeouts.