Catching up with Cedric Mullins

Orioles centerfielder Cedric Mullins is fresh off of his very first appearance in Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, as the starting centerfielder for the American League at Coors Field in Colorado.

In the midst of the most stellar season of his career, Mullins joined Geoff Arnold and Brett Hollander in last week’s episode of “Inside the Yard” to discuss participating in the All-Star Game, watching teammate Trey Mancini in the home run derby, hitting homers himself, Game of Thrones, and his meal routines.

When he found out he would be starting the Midsummer Classic, his attempt to first tell his mom was unsuccessful. After reaching his dad, he found out they were together. Being able to tell them both the news at the same time was an exciting moment for Mullins.

“It was an amazing experience, it was great to be able to share it with my family,” Mullins stated.

Had he not been invited to Colorado, Mullins would have gone home to spend the break with his family regardless.

“They were very excited,” he said. “They had a lot of nerves going into some of the events, but talking to them afterwards, they said it was awesome and they really appreciated being out there.”

Mullins exclaimed, “I really enjoyed being with them, it was fun. It was awesome to bring them out there with me.”

As exciting of an experience that it was, Mullins has remained humble. “I walked around introducing myself to everybody and of course they all said, ‘Oh we know who you are,’ but that’s not the point. It was a matter of me meeting them for the first time and being official with it. Of course, I know who they are as well. But it was awesome to get to know those guys a little bit and get back at it after the All-Star Game.”

Mullins really enjoyed watching his teammate Trey Mancini participate in the home run derby the day prior to his own festivities, and made sure to give him advice along the way.

“I tried to keep him as calm as possible, but I was relaxed because I’ve seen him take BP and I know the potential he has on the baseball field,” said Mullins.

When asked if he would ever participate in a home run derby himself, Mullins kept it very simple, “Absolutely not.”

“The mindset is completely different,” he continued. “You take five or six swings in BP and rotate with the other guys. Just to have a three-minute continuation with one break, that’s a lot of swings.”

Mullins added, “I think (Ryan) Mountcastle would do really well in a home run derby, I think he could take one.”

They ended their discussion with their “Fun Five”, where Mullins elaborated on his disappointment with the television series Game of Thrones and discussed his interesting postgame meal routine of putting hot sauce on fish.

You can listen to the full podcast episode above or wherever you stream podcasts.