masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe early reviews are quite good for the Orioles fourth-round draft pick, outfielder Trent Mummey from Auburn.

He is batting leadoff and playing center field for Aberdeen of the New York-Penn League. He is batting over .300 and has produced 15 extra-base hits in just 23 games.

All this while playing with a quad injury that first surfaced in late May during his college season with the Tigers.

“It’s just a nagging thing and you see it once in a while when he accelerates and decelerates,”…The early reviews are quite good for the Orioles fourth-round draft pick, outfielder Trent Mummey from Auburn.

He is batting leadoff and playing center field for Aberdeen of the New York-Penn League. He is batting over .300 and has produced 15 extra-base hits in just 23 games.

All this while playing with a quad injury that first surfaced in late May during his college season with the Tigers.

“It’s just a nagging thing and you see it once in a while when he accelerates and decelerates,” Aberdeen manager Gary Kendall said. “That’s why his base stealing totals are down. Not that I don’t run him when I need to run him, but I want him to finish the year healthy and I’ve given him some days off.

“I just want this kid to finish the year healthy or maybe get promoted healthy at the end of the year if that is in the plans. You may notice it when he slows down into a base or when he accelerates. It’s very stiff, rigid running. But he’s (otherwise) moving good.

“(Scouting director) Joe Jordan told me what to expect of him as a runner and it’s been a tick less. He tells me it bothers him, but our trainers say unless you sit him a month, it won’t go away.”

Mummey, who missed the start of his college season due to a fractured fibula in his right ankle, is playing well, despite the minor quad injury.

He is batting .310-3-13 in 23 IronBirds games with 13 walks and 10 strikeouts, a .530 slugging percentage and .918 OPS.

He hit a walk-off Grand Slam for the IronBirds on July 11 vs. Auburn and since that game is batting 16 for 43 (.372) with seven doubles, two homers and 9 RBI in ten games.

The 21-year-old Mummey batted .366-17-54 in 36 games at Auburn. He’s a lefty hitter and thrower who goes 5’10” and 176 pounds.

“He does a lot of things to win games,” Kendall said. “Offensively, he can bunt and pull the baseball. The other night in Lowell they pitched a guy named Mendez who was throwing between 92 and 100, legit, on our gun.

“He hit a leadoff homer off him on a 98 mile per hour fastball. He turned that around on the inner third of the plate. In his second at bat, he hit a hard slider off the wall for a double. Later he bunted for a hit.

“He looks to be player at this level and maybe higher levels, that can do a lot of things to beat you. He’s got a lot of baseball savvy. He gets a good read on the ball in the outfield.

“I think he’s going to hit and he has some power for a little guy. I don’t mean little, he is put together. I’ve been encouraged by his at bats vs. left-handed pitching.”

Mummey, who was the 118th player taken in the draft, is 8 for 20 with Aberdeen vs. lefty pitching.

He had a double in four at bats last night as Tri-City beat Aberdeen 6-2 to snap the IronBirds five-game win streak.

Brandon Snyder, in his second rehab game with Aberdeen went 0 for 4 with an RBI and is 2 for 9 in two games with the IronBirds.

Mummey, Snyder and the rest of the Aberdeen squad host Tri-City again tonight at 7:05 to wrap up a three-game series at Ripken Stadium.

Here is another article with quotes from Mummey written about two weeks ago.