Two years ago Sunday, Cedric Mullins was nearly a month into an unexpected return to Double-A Bowie. At this time in 2020, he was back in Bowie again, with Sunday marking the anniversary of his demotion to the Orioles’ alternate training site after a 1-for-13 start to the season.
Those benchmark dates make what Mullins achieved Aug. 8, 2021, all the more impressive. On Tampa Bay Rays starter Michael Wacha’s first pitch of what became a 9-6 Orioles loss thanks to another eighth-inning collapse, Mullins homered to the flag court beyond the right-field fence at Camden Yards, becoming the seventh player in franchise history with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season.