SARASOTA—For years, both in the minors and the majors, Cedric Mullins was part of an outfield alignment with Austin Hays and Anthony Santander.
Last July 26th, the Orioles traded Hays to the Philadelphia Phillies in the deal that brought reliever Seranthony Domínguez to the Orioles. Hays is now with the Cincinnati Reds. Last month, Santander signed as a free agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Mullins, who’s now 30, has been getting used to new teammates in the outfield. Last year, it was Colton Cowser, who played lots of left field alongside Mullins in center.
This year, the Orioles signed outfielders Dylan Carlson, Ramón Laureano and Tyler O’Neill.
“It’s definitely going to be different,” Mullins said as training camp opened. “I’ve got to talk to those guys a little bit and get to know them a little bit so it doesn’t feel like we’re strange to each other. It’s going to be fun.”
The Orioles will play the Toronto Blue Jays in Sarasota on Thursday, but Santander may not make that trip. The Blue Jays come back on March 18th, and the Orioles go to Dunedin on March 13th, so there should be a chance for a reunion before the March 27th opener in Toronto.
“I talked to him not too long ago to congratulate him,” Mullins said about his new AL East rival. “I’m actually excited to face off with him to start the season. It’s going to be fun. It’s fun to see him go through this process.”
O’Neill should be playing a lot of right, as should Heston Kjerstad. The Orioles are counting on them to make up for Santander’s 44 home runs from 2024.
“I feel like I’m doing what I’ve been doing the whole time,” said Mullins, who hit 18 home runs in 2024. “A couple of guys are going to be stepping in that role a little bit more. I’m right there with them.”
Manager Brandon Hyde thinks Mullins has become more of a mentor on and off the field.
“We could see that last year,” Hyde said. “Without Hays in left as much beside him, Ced took a lot more of a leadership role in center field. He’s way louder, directing traffic a lot more. That’s going to carry into left field a lot more. He took a next step defensively. I thought he was really, really good in controlling the outfield.
“He’s always been really good, but he had that comfort with Hays next to him for a lot of years, and Santander. We’ve talked about that. Cowser is going to be playing next to him with a lot of other guys maybe he hasn’t played with as much. Be more of a leader is something we talked about.”
Mullins had an awful May last season when he hit just .136. At the All-Star break, his average was just .214, but he hit .266 in the second half of the season. For the year, he hit .234 with the 18 homers and 54 RBIs with a .71O OPS. For the third time in four seasons, he stole more than 30 bases, with 32 steals in 38 attempts.
“It’s really just keeping up with the mindset and the thought process I had in the second half, really hanging on to it, and just keep everything the same,” Mullins said. “That was the focus to my offseason. Don’t change anything. We’ll make the adjustments as we go.”
Mullins will be a free agent after this season, but first comes the 2025 season.
“On the personal side, there’s a lot of focus involved, of course,” Mullins said. “On the team side of things, it’s business as usual. We go about it day-by-day. Looking to the team for my game plan.”
Dean Kremer is the Orioles’ player representative, and Mullins took a more active role with the Players Union in the offseason as the alternate pension committee representative.
“I attended the board meeting during the offseason in Arizona,” Mullins said. “I was really interested to get in on the side of helping to push the game forward in the right direction, so I’m on the pension committee. That’s more on the financial side of things. To keep involved in things, that’s a big deal. I wanted to step up.”
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