Competing with Hays for CF duties Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Monday that Mullins will compete with Austin Hays for the top job in center field this spring, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports. Impact Mullins has come a long way since his disastrous debut season with the Orioles in 2018, but he was still a slightly below-average hitter in 2020, submitting a .271/.315/.407 slash line (97 wRC+) over 153 plate appearances. Hays' .722 OPS matched Mullins' mark exactly, so the two should enter spring training on relatively even ground in the job battle. While Hays offers more power and was the more highly regarded prospect coming up in the Baltimore system, Mullins possesses more speed, which is in short supply in the Orioles lineup.
FEBRUARY 22, 2021 • ROTOWIRE