Rich Dubroff

Orioles’ Mullins is American League’s starting centerfielder in All-Star Game; he’ll bat 9th

Cedric Mullins was named to replace the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout as the starting centerfielder in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Denver’s Coors Field.  Mullins, who finished sixth in fan voting among American League outfielders, will bat ninth.

Trout is on the 60-day injured left because of a strained right calf.

Mullins, who will be the first Oriole to start an All-Star Game since Manny Machado was the starting shortstop in 2018, is the only Oriole on the AL team.

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After Mullins had been told he had been selected to the All-Star team, he said: “To make the team is a great honor in itself. But to be able to start, that would be something that would be almost unexplainable.”

Although Mullins will be the only Oriole on the team, first baseman/designated hitter Trey Mancini will participate in the Home Run Derby Monday night.

Mullins, who abandoned switch-hitting before the season to bat exclusively left-handed, is hitting .314 with 16 home runs and 35 RBIs. He has a .922 OPS and leads the American League with 106 hits.

He also has 16 stolen bases in 21 attempts and has made a number of exceptional defensive plays.

Rich Dubroff

Rich Dubroff grew up in Brooklyn as a fan of New York teams, but after he moved to Baltimore, quickly adopted the Orioles and Colts. After nearly two decades as a freelancer assisting on Orioles coverage for several outlets, principally The Capital in Annapolis and The Carroll County Times, Dubroff began covering the team fulltime in 2011. He spent five years at Comcast SportsNet’s website and for the last two seasons, wrote for PressBoxonline.com, Dubroff lives in Baltimore with his wife of more than 30 years, Susan.

View Comments

  • Congratulations, Cedric! At least we will get to see you get two at bats Tuesday night in Denver.

  • Well deserved for Cedric! Hope he lays out and takes an extra base hit away from a National leaguer!
    Watching him hit has been such a pleasure - he is so good at taking a first pitch, shortening up the swing, going opposite field, laying down the occasional bunt etc. he takes the pure hitting approach.
    I hope his other teammates are watching attentively.

  • Awesome honor, something of a return to the traditional lead off hitter, love watching him play...go O’s...

  • His fellow players voted him to start, not as a sub. He, at this point, is the top outfielder in baseball IMHO.

    • NormOs, that’s a helluva statement. I was all ready to say not so fast then I looked at his stats and there is a compelling argument to be made FOR him. Base hits, total bases, extra base hits, HRs, BA, OBP, OPS, WAR, stolen bases and of course his defense, it would be very difficult to say anyone is better. Amazing for where he was 2 years ago at this point.

  • Cedric surely deserved this honor. Is there any other team sport where a barely average player can blossom into a star in just a season or two, or just by changing teams? Unfortunately, it also seems to work in the opposite direction as seen in our CD.

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Rich Dubroff

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