Cedric Mullins Pushing for All-Star Bid on Final Voting Day

With phase one voting for the 2021 All-Star Game closing on Thursday, Cedric Mullins has turned up offensively in a last-ditch effort to make the team

After cooling off in May from his torrid offensive output to begin the season, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins has returned to his surprising new level of production in June. The breakout comes at a perfect time for the 26-year-old, as Major League Baseball and its fans go through the process of selecting players for this year’s All-Star Game, which is set to take place on Tuesday, July 13th at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.

So far in the month of June, Mullins is slashing .356/.429/.740 with a 212 wRC+, which ranks him sixth among all hitters across Major League Baseball. Mullins has seven multi-hit games in June, including a five-hit game against the Cleveland Indians back on June 5th. The game happened to be Mullins’ second five-hit game of the season, making him one of just three players in Baltimore Orioles history to record multiple five-hit games in the same season.

With the first phase of voting coming to an end on Thursday, June 24th at 11:59 PM EDT, just three players at each infield position and nine total outfielders will advance to the second phase, which will determine the starters on the respective teams. As of this past Monday’s MLB All-Star Ballot update, Mullins is in a position to make the cut.

With four percent of the total vote at the position, Mullins ranks ninth among AL outfielders, narrowly leading Randy Arozarena and Kyle Tucker for the final spot. The leading vote-getter among AL outfielders, unsurprisingly, is Mike Trout. Should Trout maintain his lead and be named to the All-Star team, it seems likely that a replacement will have to be named as Trout continues to work his way back from a right calf strain, which may be enough of an opening for Mullins to find himself on the roster.

Trailing just Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the most hits of any hitter in the American League, Cedric Mullins is the Orioles’ best chance at earning an All-Star representative outright, avoiding the obligatory reserve candidate. As we inch further through the voting process, it will be interesting to see just how far Mullins’ All-Star bid will go.