Pregame notes on Mullins, Harvey, the offense and more

As the Orioles offense has continued to struggle - they are 0-17 when scoring two runs or fewer after Friday's loss at Washington - it's also been a little tougher for center fielder Cedric Mullins at the top of the order.

Opponents can see he was hitting well to begin the year, but not many others were and he became a focal point in their game plan in facing the Orioles. If some other hitters get going, it will help Mullins and, of course, the entire lineup.

"Yeah, and a day off too," manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon of Mullins. "That would help him. Be able to give this guy a little bit of a breather. He's played almost every inning and really played well.

"They are pitching him a little bit differently right now. Teams are crowding him (pitching inside) a lot. He pulls his hands inside that ball from (Stephen) Strasburg last night in the first and the ball was on the pole the whole way and just hooked at the very end. So, I think Ced has played extremely well to this point. If we get some guys (going), yeah, Trey (Mancini) is swinging the bat unbelievably right now. (Austin) Hays' at-bats are a little bit inconsistent, but he shows flashes of being a really good player, and hopefully (Anthony) Santander can help us out in the middle of the order."

Mullins is 0-for-11 his last three games as his average had dipped under .300 to 292. He's batting .211/.308/.333 (12-for-57) his last 15 games. And opponents are wary of his outstanding bunting ability as well.

"I think third basemen are playing him differently," Hyde said during his Zoom session. "When we played Tampa, (Yandy) Díaz at third was about 20 feet in on the grass. Starlin (Castro) last night was taking the bunt away from him. So, it's just more challenging. He's a bunt threat and stolen base threat. They are going to try and take it away and make him beat them. Because the shortstop (gap) is wide open at that point.

"Something he works on every day in BP, honestly, is hitting ground balls and line drives through that left side. Just because the whole side (is open). But they crowd him, so it's really tough to stay inside to be able to utilize the left side of the field."

The Orioles just can't seem to string a number of good offensive games together. It looked like it was happening earlier this week when they scored 23 runs over the course of Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But now they've scored three runs on six hits the past two games. In going 1-8 the last nine games, they scored two or fewer in five of those games.

"I just think we have a lot of guys that have struggled so far this year," Hyde said, "And, you know, the top half of our order right now has really carried us, offensively. Trey is swinging the bat great, and now we have Santander back. He's going to give us really good at-bats. Freddy (Galvis) has had a good year up to this point. Ced has done what he's done. Austin Hays has been a lot better after coming back from injury and giving us a spark offensively.

"We're just having a tough time sustaining rallies because we have a tough time putting a bunch of good at-bats together. You look at the innings that we've scored runs. We don't hit a ton of homers either. So, we've got to be able to manufacture runs. We've got to be able to draw walks when necessary. We've got to be able to put the ball in play. That's a lineup approach. It's not just you're waiting for a three-run homer a couple of times a game.

"You know, the work that we do pregame, I couldn't ask for anything better. These guys are locked in prior to the game. The work is fantastic. They recognize everything we've been talking about. It just hasn't happened in the games yet. This is a production league and, you know, we face good pitching. It's easier said than done. But we've just got to keep working."

The O's bullpen is in better shape for this afternoon's game behind starter Bruce Zimmermann.

"Yeah, Lopie (Jorge López) going five and Tyler (Wells) going two helped us out," said Hyde. "Yesterday we were hanging by a thread a little bit. Today we're in better shape."

That 'pen could be getting right-hander Hunter Harvey back before too long. He is expected to make a few rehab appearances before rejoining the Orioles, and they begin Sunday at Triple-A Norfolk. Harvey is on the 60-day injured list with an oblique strain.

"He's not eligible to come off until the end of the month, first of next month," Hyde said. "So, we're kind of scheduling out his outings for the next eight or nine days and then, hopefully, he's ready to join us."