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Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins underwent an MRI yesterday on his right hamstring, and the club is expressing early optimism regarding the severity of the strain and length of his absence.
Mullins leads the club with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs, and he ranks second with a .324 on-base percentage, .448 slugging and .772 OPS. His placement on the 10-day injured list is retroactive to yesterday, making him eligible to return on June 8.
“Very minor,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “My guess is that this will probably be the minimum for him. And who knows? It can go a little bit further. But we are not super concerned. It’s more right now just taking care of Ced and making sure we get him back 100 percent.”
Mullins has missed three of five games. He appeared in 147 last season but made two trips to the IL in 2023 with adductor strains.
Dylan Carlson is in center field this afternoon, and Mansolino said deciding on starters will be day-to-day.
“I’ll sit down with the staff and we’ll kind of work through what that’s gonna look like,” Mansolino said.
Outfielder Colton Cowser, who has played in four rehab games, could be reinstated from the 60-day injured list next week on the West Coast.
Cowser played three games with High-A Aberdeen before two postponements in Norfolk and last night’s leadoff duties that produced three doubles.
“He got pushed back a couple days because of the rain,” Mansolino said. “The rain isn’t just killing the Orioles, it’s killing the Tides, as well. It’s a conversation, we’re talking about it. We know what the original schedule was. It would be on this road trip coming up. That hasn’t changed. We’ll see him at some point. We’ll get input from Colton, we’ll consider all factors.
“First and foremost, it’s going to be about Colton. Colton has to be ready. We can’t bring him back if he’s not ready. If he’s ready and he feels good and the performance is there and he’s seeing the ball good, then I think there’s a conversation about, get him here maybe a day sooner.”
The Orioles signed utility player Cooper Hummel to another major league contract yesterday as Mullins’ replacement on the roster. He spent one day with them in Boston, was designated for assignment Monday and declined an outright assignment.
“Let’s just say that Monday’s move was an administrative move,” he said with a grin. “I’m gonna leave it at that. I knew there was a role here and it worked out well.”
New senior advisor John Mabry is expected to join the Orioles on Sunday and will be in the dugout for games. His experience as a 14-year player in the majors and 12 as a coach should be a tremendous asset.
“I’m excited about that one,” Mansolino said. “I think anytime you get a guy that’s played that long in the big leagues, that has coached that long in the big leagues, who has been kind of a part of different eras of the big leagues now and kind of survived and had the longevity that he has, it’s definitely a guy that has a lot of wisdom and is gonna be a great resource for us in all areas.
“I think directly he’s gonna assist me, but I also envision him assisting in all areas.”
Mabry can work with the infielders and outfielders and instruct in hitting and baserunning.
“If he has any thoughts on anything else, we’re gonna take it in so a lot of wisdom with him,” Mansolino said. “Excited about him. Have talked to him a couple times. Have done a lot of background on him. Checks a lot of boxes.
“I think he’s somebody that the organization has been in touch with in the past. I think that it’s somebody a lot of our people like. There’s some relationships in place there. As you kind of think about the situation we’re in, we’re down a couple bodies coaching staff-wise, we need labor. He’s out there. He’s not attached to a team right now. It’s somebody that we really like and we have an immense respect for, and we’re excited to bring him in.
“You start thinking about the coaches’ room. This was a staff decision, too. Everybody was included in this. This isn’t just Mike (Elias), this isn’t just me. This is the whole staff. We talked about it. We said, ‘Hey man, let’s do this.’ It kind of made me feel really good about the room, made me feel really good about the coaches and myself and Mike and everybody willing to be secure and confident in the culture and what we have in there to bring in an outside voice, and somebody like John. So I think this is a huge positive for us and I think it’s knd of a feather in the cap of that coaches’ room in a lot of ways.”
For the Orioles
Jackson Holliday 2B
Adley Rutschman C
Gunnar Henderson SS
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Ryan O’Hearn RF
Ramón Urías 3B
Emmanuel Rivera DH
Heston Kjerstad LF
Dylan Carlson CF
Zach Eflin RHP
For the White Sox
Chase Meidroth SS
Mike Tauchman DH
Miguel Vargas 1B
Andrew Benintendi LF
Luis Robert Jr. CF
Joshua Palacios RF
Edgar Quero C
Lenyn Sosa 2B
Josh Rojas 3B
Jared Shuster LHP
