Mullins chasing 200 hits, plus other O's notes

In the middle of a remarkable year we can think back to the first few games of the season and recall that center fielder Cedric Mullins was raking pretty much from the start.

He went 9-for-13 in that opening series at Boston, which included a 5-for-5 game in the series finale. By the end of April he was batting .337. But there were times in May that it seemed like Mullins' bat was crashing back to earth. He was batting .291 in late May. Then came June and so much for his bat cooling off. He posted a 1.172 OPS for the month, better than his mark of .932 in April and well above his .732 in May.

He may not have been voted into the All-Star game as a starter, but his nightly exploits have become must-see TV and this amazing season has him in position to do some special things. For instance, he could become a 30-30 player with 30 homers and 30 steals. At the 81-game point, he has 14 home runs and 15 stolen bases.

Mullins could also join this special group of four - Cal Ripken Jr., Miguel Tejada, B.J. Surhoff and Al Bumbry. They are the only four players in team history to produce a 200-hit season, doing it a combined six times.

214 - Tejada in 2006
211 - Ripken in 1983
210 - Ripken in 1991
207 - Surhoff in 1999
205 - Bumbry in 1980
203 - Tejada in 2004

Through Wednesday's games, Mullins had 99 hits to lead the American League and rank fourth in the majors. You can do the math and see he could be close with a second-half like the first.

Through the midpoint, he is batting .322/.391/.550 with 22 doubles, three triples, 14 homers and 30 RBIs. The decision to stop switch-hitting was a difference-maker. Last year he hit .171/.216/.286/.502 against southpaws. Now he is batting .310/.373/.500/.873 against lefties. His OPS is not as good as it is versus right-handed pitching (.975), but it's pretty robust.

Outfielder Austin Hays has played with Mullins for many years at many levels, and they've become good friends.

"I think what he was able to do in 2019, with his bunt game and then what he came back and did last year with some of the swing adjustments that he made and getting rid of batting right-handed and hitting only lefty, I think it just freed up his mind a little bit more, to only focus on one side of the plate," Hays said recently.

"And he knows he always has that bunt tool in his pocket now, because he perfected it when he wasn't hitting. He ended up stealing, I think, 33 or 36 bags (33 between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk) in that 2019 season. So, his defense and his baserunning improved tremendously when he was struggling with the bat. So, once he got some mechanical adjustments made and he switched to that left side (exclusively) we got to see him completely flourish. And really got to notice the other parts of his game that he really, really improved too."

Postseason baseball on the farm: Initially, it appeared that Minor League Baseball teams would not have a postseason when the 2021 regular season was over. But that has changed. This week it was announced that the four full-season levels and leagues will each have a best-of-five championship series pitting the two teams with the best records, regardless of division.

As of today on the O's farm, low Single-A Delmarva would play in such a series to produce the league champion. Double-A Bowie would just miss out. The No. 2-seeded club will host the first two games. The No. 1 seed will host Game 3 and Games 4 and 5 if necessary. These series will begin Sept. 21. These will be the first playoffs on the farm since 2019.

It should be noted this is the format for low Single-A, high Single-A and Double-A, and the Triple-A playoff format is still being worked out.

To settle ties, leagues will use head-to-head records first, then look at team winning percentages over the previous 20 games. If the teams are tied in both those categories, then officials will add a game and look at winning percentages for the past 21 games, and continue adding games until the tie is broken.

There will not be any playoffs in the Rookie-level Florida or Arizona complex leagues.

Wells gets his feet wet: He's back at Triple-A Norfolk now, but 24-year-old lefty Alexander Wells got the call to the Orioles on the last road trip. He pitched two scoreless innings against Toronto and gave up two runs over 2 2/3 versus Houston. So he has a 3.86 ERA after two major league games, allowing two runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings with four walks and one strikeout.

Wells relied on his fastball, with an average velocity of 89.1 mph, for 57 percent of his pitches. He mixed in a mid-70s curveball and solid changeup. The secondaries and command will always be important for a pitcher whose fastball topped at 91.4 mph in his first outing and 89.0 in his second.

Wells has always been a pitcher that comes right at the hitters with a fearlessness, despite a lack of velocity. He pitches inside and knows he needs to use all four strike-zone quadrants and then some to get outs. He does it. Not afraid and ready to attack.

We will, no doubt, see him again soon. He's on the 40-man roster, and the pitching roster churn never seems to slow.

In terms of his development, I like the fact that Wells basically pitched at one level each year. He threw 140 innings for Delmarva in 2017, 135 for then high Single-A Frederick in 2018 and 137 at Double-A Bowie in 2019. Last year was to be his Triple-A season, but then the pandemic shut down the minor leagues. This year he has just 32 innings with Norfolk, so he could use more time and seasoning there.

But his seat on the shuttle is probably secure. He's a fun guy to watch and has quite the minor league resume. One that includes winning the Orioles' Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year award in 2017, pitching in the Futures Game in 2018 and being one of the best pitchers in the Eastern League in 2019.

He can now mark arriving in the majors off his checklist. I hope he settles into a routine at Norfolk and maybe thrives while getting some regular starts and innings over the next few weeks.

But I look forward to his next call, when the mentally tough kid from Australia will once again try to throw a below-average velocity fastball yet still get big league hitters out.

Rom's strong game: High Single-A Aberdeen lefty Drew Rom pitched a rain-shortened shutout last night in Aberdeen's 2-0 win over Brooklyn at Ripken Stadium. Over six innings he gave up four hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He is 5-0 with a 3.14 ERA.

Second baseman Adam Hall went 1-for-2 with an RBI single and two stolen bases. Hall has 18 steals to lead O's farmhands.