31 Cedric Mullins CF

The Orioles optioned Mullins to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.

Mullins broke camp last spring as the Orioles' Opening Day center fielder, but he quickly squandered most of his goodwill. After a 6-for-64 start to the campaign, he was demoted to the minors, spending most of the season there and finishing with a middling .233/.302/.347 between stops at Norfolk and Double-A Bowie. The 25-year-old may need a bounce-back season in the minors in order to maintain his spot on the 40-man roster heading into next winter.

Mullins spent two weeks with a hitting instructor this offseason to improve his swing, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Mullins began the 2019 season as the Orioles' starting center fielder, but struggled to .094/.181/.156 line across 74 plate appearances before being demoted. Trying to get back to the major leagues, he worked with an instructor from Premier Pitching and Performance this offseason. Mullins isn't a favorite to begin the season in Baltimore after posting a .578 OPS for Triple-A Norfolk over 66 games last year, but he could enter the conversation with a strong spring training.

Mullins was sent to Double-A Bowie on Thursday, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.

Mullins started the 2019 campaign in the big leagues, where he struggled to a 6-for-64 start over 22 games before being optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. He's since slashed .205/.272/.306 with five homers and 24 RBI over 66 contests with the Tides, and Baltimore has elected to send him down another level to allow him to regain his swing.

The Orioles optioned Mullins to Triple-A Norfolk on Monday, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.

Even with the organizational rebuild affording him some extra time to bust out of his season-opening slump, Mullins' 6-for-64 start to the campaign was too ugly for the Orioles to ignore. The 24-year-old will thus head back to the International League to find his way at the plate and regain some confidence. Since the Orioles don't have much in the way of intriguing outfield depth at the major-league level, Mullins could earn his way back to the big leagues quickly if his bat shows signs of life in his initial games at Triple-A.

Updating a previous report, Mullins will start in center field and hit ninth Sunday against the Red Sox, according to Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com.

With lefty David Price on the hill for the Red Sox, Mullins had been slated to receive the day off. Those plans changed, however, after Dwight Smith (leg) was a late scratch from the lineup. Mullins will occupy his usual spot in the outfield while Joey Rickard slides over to right field in Smith's stead.

Mullins is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Manager Brandon Hyde has occasionally shielded Mullins from left-handed starting pitchers this season, so it's not overly surprising that the 24-year-old will head to the bench with David Price on the bump for Boston. Joey Rickard will start in center field in Mullins' stead and hit second.

Mullins is not in Tuesday's lineup against the A's, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

He hasn't played a full season in the majors, but the switch-hitting outfielder has a 42 wRC+ against lefties in 62 plate appearances, which is enough for the O's to sit him fairly regularly in these matchups. Joey Rickard gets the start in center field, hitting second.

Mullins is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Yankees, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

The Orioles aren't comfortable committing to the switch-hitting Mullins in a full-time role just yet, as he'll sit for the third time this season with lefty James Paxton on the bump for New York. With one hit in 17 at-bats to begin the season, Mullins could be a candidate for a demotion if he fails to get things going at the plate upon rejoining the lineup.

Mullins is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Mullins served as the Orioles' Opening Day starter in center field, finishing his season debut 0-for-3 with a walk while batting out of the leadoff spot. The switch hitter will check out of the lineup against Yankees southpaw James Paxton, affording super-utility man Drew Jackson a spin in center field. It's still expected that Mullins will see the bulk of the action at the position in 2019.

Mullins will start in center field and man the leadoff spot Thursday in the Orioles' season opener against the Yankees, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Mullins appears to have secured an everyday role in the outfield to begin the campaign, despite managing only a .151 average and .262 on-base percentage in spring training. The 24-year-old did manage to go 4-for-4 on stolen-base chances and could regularly get the green light on the basepaths so long as he sticks at the top of an Orioles lineup that could struggle to generate runs this season.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Thursday that he is not ready to name Mullins the Orioles' starting center fielder, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

It's still relatively early in spring for us to expect managers to declare the winner of many job battles, so this doesn't mean Mullins has fallen out of favor. It is just worth noting that he is apparently not an absolute lock to have the job on Opening Day. However, considering the players he is competing with (DJ Stewart, Drew Jackson, Joey Rickard), we can be fairly safe in assuming Mullins will be the guy.

Mullins went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer Wednesday against the Rays.

Mullins tied the game at 3-3 with his two-run shot off Yonny Chirinos in the fifth inning. The homer was his first of the spring, and just his fourth hit in 23 at-bats (.174). Mullins also has a pair of doubles, a pair of stolen bases and a 2:3 BB:K.

Mullins went 2-for-6 with an RBI in a loss to the Yankees on Saturday.

Mullins continued his solid audition for a sizable role in 2019, leading off for the 29th time in 35 starts and, after this multi-hit effort, is batting .277/.353/.431 in 155 plate appearances since his callup. Though he only has stolen two bases in that time, he totaled 21 over 108 minor-league games this season, and if the O's decide to hand him a near-everyday role for 2019, he would have late-round fantasy value for swipes potential.

Mullins went 4-for-5 with a double, stolen base, RBI and a run Sunday in the Orioles' 8-4 win over the White Sox.

Mullins has been one of the few bright spots in the second half for an Orioles squad trending toward its worst season in franchise history. The four hits were a new career high for the outfielder, who had previously tallied a trio of base hits on two occasions in August shortly after being promoted from Triple-A Norfolk. The 23-year-old, who is batting .276 with 12 extra-base knocks in 132 plate appearances since his callup, should continue to serve as the Orioles' regular leadoff man over the final two weeks as he looks to strengthen his case for a full-time role in the big leagues in 2019.

Mullins is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Mariners, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Mullins is 0-for-13 with five strikeouts over his last three starts, so he'll head to the bench to clear his head while Joey Rickard picks up a start in center field.

Mullins went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 9-2 loss to the Royals.

The rookie returned to action from a hip injury with a bang, leading off the game with his third homer of the year. Mullins now boasts a .317/.386/.556 slash line through his first 18 big-league games, but the speed he flashed in the minors hasn't translated to the majors yet -- after going 21-for-22 on stolen base attempts this season between Double-A and Triple-A, Mullins was caught stealing on his first and so far only attempt with the O's. Assuming his hip is now 100 percent, however, he could see more green lights in September.

Mullins (hip) is starting in center field and hitting leadoff Friday against the Royals, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

As expected, Mullins has been cleared to rejoin the starting nine after getting a few days off to work past the hip injury he suffered last weekend. The 23-year-old is hitting .305/.379/.492 with two homers across 17 big-league games since earning a promotion earlier in the month.

Mullins (hip) hopes to return to action Friday in Kansas City, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com reports.

The Orioles have an off day Thursday, so the hope is that a couple days off will allow him to get right. He suffered the hip injury over the weekend and attempted to return earlier this week but seems to have aggravated it, hence his absence from Wednesday's lineup.

Mullins is on the bench for the second straight game Wednesday against Toronto, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Both games have come against lefties, so it's possible that the switch hitter is sliding into a platoon role. He also reportedly suffered a minor hip injury Saturday and sat out Sunday's contest, so while he started Monday, it's possible that the injury is still affecting him. John Andreoli is again starting in center field.

Mullins is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Blue Jays, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Mullins picked up a hip injury over the weekend, and while he was able to return to the starting nine Monday, the Orioles will give him Tuesday off as they ease the 23-year-old back into action. John Andreoli will man center field and hit eighth in his place.