Armed with a blend of power and speed, Cedric Mullins potentially hitting atop the Orioles lineup makes in an appealing prospect heading into 2019. Of course, opportunity drives the bus, but Mullins did well during his 45-game sample last year with Baltimore scoring 23 runs with four home runs, 11 RBI, two stolen bases and a .235/.312/.359 slash line. His average could be slightly better, as his .241 expected average suggests. However, it could be the last part of his game which arrives for fantasy.

Mullins also played across two levels of the minors last year splitting time between Double and Triple-A. As a primer, here’s his statistics at each level along with his combined minor league totals:

  • Double-A: 49 games, 201 at-bats, 36 runs, six home runs, 28 RBI, nine stolen bases; .313/.362/.516
  • Triple-A: 60 games, 242 at-bats, 41 runs, six home runs, 19 RBI, 12 stolen bases; .269/.333/.438
  • MiLB 2018: 109 games, 443 at-bats, 77 runs, 12 home runs, 47 RBI, 21 stolen bases; .289/.346/.472

It’s worth noting Mullins’ average dropped each time he leveled up last year. He did raise his walk percentage, but also his strikeout rate transitioning from Double-A to Triple-A, but there’s some unique information below the hood. When perusing Mullins discipline metrics in his small sample in the majors, he recorded 6.9 swinging strike percentage and a 22.2 O-Swing (swings and misses at pitches outside the strike zone) rate. These combined with a contact percentage over 83 should benefit Mullins going forward.

In order to establish his tendencies in regards to batted ball data, first, here’s his heat map courtesy of MLBfarm.com:

Unlike many hitters, Mullins seems to prefer hitting the ball to the opposite field. Especially when on the ground. This worked for Derek Jeter and more recently for D.J. LeMahieu. Not only will Mullins be willing to go the other way, he can hit to the opposite field with power as seen in his spray chart from the last two years:

In fact, he’s hit more home runs to right field than his pull field. With some luck and further development, Mullins could improve his power numbers as time goes on. So far in spring, he’s appeared in 16 games with more walks (7) than strikeouts (6) through 59 plate appearances. But, Mullins .160/.276/.400 line with three home runs and four stolen bases underscores the premise, patience could be necessary in regards to his average. This also resonates in his projection sets:

Fantasy owners searching for players with 15 home run and stolen base upside can target Cedric Mullins . However, they may need to absorb some streakiness at the plate along the way. There’s a very good chance Mullins could reach the ZiPS projection, just invest with knowledge.

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Statistical Credits:

Fangraphs.com

MiLB.com

MLBfarm.com

THE BAT courtesy of Derek Carty

ATC courtesy of Ariel Cohen

ZiPS courtesy of Dan Szymborski

xSTATS.org