One Man’s Trash: Cedric The Mehtertainer

2021. Joe Biden was smiling and giving two thumbs up. Bad Bunny was dancing as if no one was watching. Jensen Huang was rubbing hands together Miyagi style. But not for reasons you think. Sure, Biden became the 46th President of the United States that year, Bad Bunny won a Grammy, and Huang was on the verge of world domination. Instead, they were all jubilant due to the performance by Cedric the Entertainer. No, not that Cedric the Entertainer, but Cedric Mullins, who put up 30 home runs, 91 runs, 59 RBI, and 30 stolen bases while slashing .291/.360/.518. Even Covid was impressed. Since then, though, Mullins has failed to hit more than 18 home runs, hit the 30-stolen base mark only twice, and the average has sloped down. Let’s dig in.

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Mullins is 5-foot-7, 175 pounds, and bats from the left side. The Baltimore Orioles selected him in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. He remained with the organization until 2025, when he was traded to the New York Mets. The Tampa Bay Rays signed him on December 6, 2025 to a one-year, $7 million contract.

The power/speed combo was evident right away, as he hit 14 home runs and stole 30 bases in 559 plate appearances during the 2016 Single-A season. The ISO was in the .170 to .190 range for most of his minor league career. The average was never great (.270 range) while the walk rate was around 7%, but the strikeout rate never hit 20%.

Cedric Mullins made his MLB debut in 2018, slashing .235/.312/.369 with an 8.9% walk rate, 19.4% strikeout rate, and .124 ISO. He finished with four home runs and two stolen bases in 191 plate appearances.

Then the magical 2021 season happened.

Mullins did have some BABIP luck (.322) that season. It never touched .300 again and has staircased down – .299 to .271 to .261 to .253.

The ISO was .228 in 2021. It’s never been above .200 but .183, .171, and .175 over the last three seasons isn’t bad.

The average exit velocity was 89.4 mph in 2021, with a maxEV of 109.7 mph. The launch angle was 14.8 degrees while the barrel rate was 8.1%. Last season, the average exit velocity was 88.8 mph with a maxEV of 108.4 mph. The launch angle was 23.3 degrees, second only to Cal Raleigh last season. That number has been over 21 degrees in each of the last three seasons. The barrel rate was 6.2%.

Statcast bat tracking data only goes back to 2024, but the bat speed has remained constant at 71.1 mph but the fast swing percentage went from 7.6% to 11% last season.

In 2021, Mullins had a pull rate of 43.6%. That number was 48.1% last season.

In 2021, Mullins saw fastballs 39.1% of the time. That number dropped to 34.9% last season. The cutter usage has gone from 6% to 8.4%, while he went from seeing sliders 14.3% of the time to 18.1% last season.

Despite the relatively low walk rate, Cedric Mullins does have good command of the strike zone, as the chase rate has been sub-30%. It was 29.9% in 2021 and has improved to 24.3% last season. When the pitch is in the strike zone, Mullins swung 67.4% of the time last year, a top 50 mark. The contact rate in the zone was 88.2% in 2021 and dipped to 85.5% last season, still a top 100 mark.

Mullins is 31 years old, and putting our heads on a swivel for Father Time is wise. That said, there hasn’t been a precipitous decline in skills. More than anything, it’s been a change in approach. The conscious effort to lift the ball more has tanked the average and BABIP. The sprint speed is still solid at 28.4 feet per second, the 77th percentile, while he continued to exhibit good range on defense. And it’s the defense that should keep him on the field and allow him to accrue plate appearances. Roster Resource currently has Mullins batting fifth in the lineup.

The 2021 season looks to be an outlier for Mullins and will likely never be replicated again. That doesn’t mean Mullins can’t provide utility and value for fantasy. Mullins stole 32 bases two seasons ago and has clubbed at least 15 home runs in each of the last three seasons. The potential of 15 home runs and at least 20 stolen bases is there. Only 32 players hit those marks last season. Only 17 players finished with at least 30 stolen bases last season. It’s within the range of outcomes that he gets close to that number.

Last season was a trying one for Cedric Mullins, as he dealt with injuries and getting traded.

With Baltimore, he hit 15 home runs and stole 14 bases in 356 plate appearances. After getting traded to the New York Mets, he hit two home runs with eight stolen bases in 142 plate appearances. The slash was .183/.286/.283 with a .100 ISO compared to .229/.304/.432 with a .203 ISO in Baltimore.

In the offseason, Mullins talked about how difficult the trade was. “It hit pretty hard,” Mullins said. “Just having to uplift your entire life, especially out in New York where things can get hectic… Definitely a lot of changes and adjustments that had to be made along with trying to perform at your best.”

New city. New team. New league. New adjustments.

“It was pretty obvious I was getting beat inside consistently towards the second half of the season,” Mullins said. “Made some adjustments to make sure the body is in a good place to be in a power position to hit.”

In NFBC drafts from February 15 to March 4, Cedric Mullins is being selected as the 296th overall player. Not a bad price for a middle-of-the-order bat that has both power and speed. The batting average drain is an issue, no doubt, but there is upside for a 20/20 or 20/30 season. It’s unlikely, but if I squint, it’s there. For full disclosure, I am Asian so….