Baltimore Orioles: Roundtable Discussion On The 2019 Season

Which players on the Baltimore Orioles roster did you have high hopes for, which have since vanished?

Nick: Cedric Mullins. I was all aboard the Cedric Mullins train to begin 2019. I was never high on him when he was coming up through the system, but Chuck was during our time together at Baby Birdland and after regularly reading his work on Mullins and finally sitting down to watch a few games, I became hooked. His spring training numbers looked terrible on the surface, but I loved his walk rate, his success on the base paths, and his ability to produce extra-base hits. Once the regular season started, his defense was solid, but the bat was nonexistent. Since going down to AAA, things haven’t clicked. He’s not getting on base and making a ton of weak contact.

Aaron: I truthfully thought Miguel Castro would develop into a quality reliever this season. In 2018 Castro posted a 3.96 ERA which seemed to be just the start of what’s to come. However, the 24-year-old, despite having a 96 MPH + fastball and a sometimes nasty slider, has struggled mightily this season. Castro’s ERA is sky high at 6.84 and opposing batters are hitting .294 on balls put in play against him. He simply isn’t fooling anyone this year which is disappointing for someone the Orioles were counting on being a long-term member of their bullpen.

Jesse:  I had high hopes for Joey Rickard. He had a really good spring training where he was actually showing some power. For him to struggle and be in Norfolk has really been disappointing.

Chuck: My biggest disappointment so far has been the optioning of Cedric Mullins.  I had high hopes for him in CF this year and was surprised at his offensive struggles.  Also, the way the fan base soured on him was quite a disappointment as well. They wanted him in Baltimore and then quickly turned on him.

Last topic of discussion: One bold prediction for the rest of 2019.