Even if they don’t make the playoffs this year, Baltimore’s future is in very good hands.
The Orioles have put up a 78-71 record this season, already miles better than their abysmal 52-110 record from a season ago. That earned them the first overall pick of this year’s draft, which ended up being Jackson Holliday. Much of the team’s bright future and newfound success can be attributed to their captain of the outfield, Cedric Mullins. So far this season, he has batted .262, with 14 home runs and 55 RBI. He currently has a .323 on-base percentage, and a .403 slugging percentage.
He also has 31 stolen bases on the season, tied with fellow teammate Jorge Mateo, and only one behind the current AL leader Randy Arozarena of the Tampa Bay Rays. He is five behind the MLB leader Jon Berti of the Miami Marlins.
Mullins has a very good chance of being this year’s AL stolen base champion for the first time in his career, but he needs to pick up the pace, and fast. It’s very possible that he can do it, but time is running out with less than 15 games remaining in the regular season.
Over the past seven games, he has not recorded a stolen base, and has only had two over the previous 15 games. There are 13 games left in the Orioles season, so when he gets on base, he very much needs to capitalize on those last few opportunities.
Being at the top of the leaderboards in stolen bases is not something that’s new to Mullins, as he was tied for fourth in the MLB last season with 30 stolen bags, which, along with his 30 home runs, helped him earn a spot into the elite 30-30 club. As of right now, it looks like Mullins will still be the newest member of that club at the conclusion of this season.
As the leadoff hitter, it is essential to be quick along the bases to make your teammates’ jobs easier at the plate. That’s exactly what Mullins has done for his ball club. He has been able to put himself into better scoring positions and put the trust in his young and talented teammates to bring him home. That trust has paid off as he leads the organization this season with 82 runs scored.
The Os are currently four games back of the last wild card spot, and with only 13 games to go, it will be a ginormous mountain to climb. If there’s any chance for them to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, it will all start with their MLBbro “CM Storm” Mullins to get on and steal as many bases as possible to put his team in an easier position to score and to win.
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