Mullins in battle for outfield roster spot, plus other notes

When Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was interviewed on the MASN telecast on Monday night in Baltimore, he was asked if any players had jumped out at him during summer camp.

Elias cited catcher Pedro Severino and outfielder Cedric Mullins and said there are plenty of others that have looked good, better than they had in Sarasota in the first spring training. He said Severino has been swinging the bat very well.

Elias said of Mullins: "He's looked great, which is nice. Because he had a terrible kind of lost year last year. He struggled with his mechanics and didn't get off to a good start and it kind of snowballed on him. We had to send him to the minor leagues. We sent him to a private hitting instructor this winter to try and rebuild his swing. He looks terrific."

Mullins began last year as the Orioles center fielder but was sent to the minors after hitting .094 in 22 games. His tour of the minors started at Triple-A Norfolk. After batting .205 in 66 games for the Tides, the 25-year-old switch-hitter was sent to Double-A Bowie. He finally found some offense with the Baysox, batting .271 in 51 games. He ended the regular season batting .324 his last 10 games. He then hit .353 in eight Eastern League playoff games.

Then over the winter the Orioles sent him to work with hitting coach Rick Strickland in St. Louis. A coach who has worked with Boston outfielder Andrew Benintendi.

"The primary focus in the offseason was my bat path to the ball, and the end game was to barrel the ball up more consistently," said Mullins. "We used a lot of technology out in St. Louis. It was a great learning experience and I think I've made really strong strides with that. You know, of course, with limited at-bats up to this point, I still feel pretty good. Just seeing a few more pitches with a little spin has helped me continue with that process."

Mullins flashed some skills at Philadelphia on Sunday, hitting a homer and making a leaping catch at the wall in center. Monday at home didn't go as well, as he struck out three times. He entered the game late last night but did not get an at-bat.

But his path to make the opening day roster may be there. After Austin Hays, Anthony Santander and DJ Stewart have spots pretty much sewn up, the O's could begin the year with Ryan Mountcastle and Yusniel Diaz with the Bowie group and Dwight Smith Jr. on the injured list. That could leave Mullins and Mason Williams battling for one spot, or perhaps both make the opening day roster of 30.

"It's always going to be tight," Mullins said of the outfield chase for roster spots. "But the problem going on now is a lot of guys are having late injuries, and the whole COVID deal we are being extra cautious with guys' safety. And of course, the team's safety. You never know what is going to happen, so being prepared is the most important thing."

More Elias: Elias also was asked about the Orioles' Dominican program. How are those young international players doing? What kind of coaching are they getting during the baseball shutdown.

"It has been difficult," he said. "There is not a whole lot going on in the Dominican Republic right now. The scouting community is totally shut down. The academies are closed. Our player development efforts there are stalled out as well.

"But similar to what we are doing with our American players, our staff is keeping in touch with them. We're trying to make sure they have the resources they need to work out on their own. Getting guys nets, gym equipment, baseballs, whatever it takes for them to go out and safely hit or throw on their own. We are kind of in that mode in the Dominican as well. No one in the industry knows exactly when that will end. It's going to end when the public health situation allows it to end, so we're doing the best we can in the meantime."

The brief exhibition season is over: Happy to write those words. As of Friday, no more teams batting 10 guys in the lineup, players re-entering games, innings with one, two, three and four outs. We get real baseball that counts starting this weekend.

The Orioles lost 6-4 at Washington last night in a game shortened to seven innings by rain. Starter Kohl Stewart allowed three runs over 3 1/3 innings, throwing 71 pitches. José Iglesias went 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI. Between two spring trainings, Iglesias went 11-for-26 (.423). Hanser Alberto and Austin Hays each added two hits last night.

Click here for last night's game story and here for more on Tommy Milone being announced as the opening night starter.