{"id":73140,"date":"2025-08-02T16:07:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T16:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=73140"},"modified":"2025-08-02T16:07:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T16:07:39","slug":"breaking-news-orioles-send-mullins-to-mets-and-morton-to-tigers-and-get-a-gaggle-of-pitchers-in-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=73140","title":{"rendered":"Breaking News: Orioles Send Mullins to Mets and Morton to Tigers, and Get a Gaggle of Pitchers in Return"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dale Zanine and Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though many predicted heading into the 2025 season that the Orioles\u2019 weak starting rotation and general inactivity over the offseason would come back to haunt them, even Baltimore\u2019s biggest skeptics weren\u2019t prognosticating that the team would sit well under .500 and 7.5 games out of playoff position at the end of July.<\/p>\n

Such as it is, the Orioles spent this year\u2019s trade deadline turning over roughly a third of their roster.<\/p>\n

Over the last week or so, the O\u2019s have traded relievers\u00a0Gregory Soto,\u00a0Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez, and\u00a0Andrew Kittredge, along with infielders\u00a0Ryan O\u2019Hearn\u00a0and\u00a0Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas. Then on Thursday afternoon,\u00a0Anthony DiComo reported\u00a0that\u00a0Cedric Mullins\u00a0was on his way to the Mets; a few hours later,\u00a0Jeff Passan broke the news\u00a0that\u00a0Charlie Morton\u00a0would be joining the Tigers.<\/p>\n

The only healthy pending free agent who wasn\u2019t traded out of Baltimore is\u00a0Tomoyuki Sugano, and with\u00a0Zach Eflin\u00a0hitting the IL mere hours before the deadline, Sugano is now a load-bearing member of the rotation.<\/p>\n

Mullins was drafted by Baltimore in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. He debuted with the club in 2018 and has been a full-time starter with the O\u2019s since 2021.<\/p>\n

Over the last few years, Mullins has hovered right around league average at the plate, but he arrives at his full season numbers riding high peaks and low valleys:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This season Mullins\u00a0started strong, slumped through much of May and June, and then bounced back in July.<\/p>\n

Whether he can sustain July\u2019s success into August and beyond remains an open question, but perhaps more uncertain is whether or not Mullins will sustain his newfound reverse platoon splits.<\/p>\n

For his career, Mullins has posted splits typical of a lefty hitter, logging an 84 wRC+ against left-handed pitching and a 115 wRC+ against right-handed pitching.<\/p>\n

But this season, Mullins owns a 143 wRC+ against lefties and an 89 wRC+ against righties. Mullins has made some adjustments to his stance that could be the source of the sudden reversal.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s positioning himself slightly further back in the box and slightly closer to the plate. His feet are closer together, but his stance is more open, which might make it easier for him to track pitches thrown from the left side.<\/p>\n

His current set up in the box is similar to his stance from 2023, the only season in his career to see Mullins post neutral platoon splits.<\/p>\n

His platoon splits will likely have a large influence on how and when Mullins is deployed for the Mets, but not because of the situation in center field specifically.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks,\u00a0Jeff McNeil\u00a0and\u00a0Tyrone Taylor\u00a0have split time in center for New York, but the timeshare isn\u2019t based on starting pitcher handedness.<\/p>\n

Instead, Mets manager\u00a0Carlos Mendoza\u00a0is making a daily choice between McNeil\u2019s bat and Taylor\u2019s glove. McNeil has posted a 126 wRC+ while playing all over the diamond this year, but his limited range means he\u2019s a slightly negative contributor in the outfield by FRV.<\/p>\n

Taylor, on the other hand, has a wRC+ of 58, but ranks seventh in FRV among center fielders despite having accrued less playing time than several of his peers. Mullins essentially splits the difference between the two, posting a 104 wRC+ with much better range than McNeil in the outfield, but a notably weaker arm compared to Taylor.<\/p>\n

So Mullins doesn\u2019t just address the Mets\u2019 need for a more complete center fielder; he also addresses their need for better hitting against left-handed pitching, at least potentially. As a team, the Mets have posted a 114 wRC+ against right-handers, fifth best in the majors.<\/p>\n

But against lefties, the Mets rank 18th, with a wRC+ of 90. If Mullins\u2019 2025 platoon splits are the new normal, then it makes sense to give him the nod in center against left-handed starters and let McNeil move back to the infield, where he can spell either\u00a0Brett Baty\u00a0at second or\u00a0Ronny Mauricio\u00a0at third, since both struggle against southpaws.<\/p>\n

Against righties, Mendoza will have the flexibility to gear his lineup toward more specific matchup considerations and distribute rest days as needed.<\/p>\n

Mullins joins relievers Gregory Soto,\u00a0Ryan Helsley, and\u00a0Tyler Rogers\u00a0as the deadline additions for New York. As it stands, the Mets own a half-game divisional lead over the Phillies, who currently hold the second NL Wild Card and made similar moves in recent days to reinforce their bullpen and outfield options.<\/p>\n

Though adding Mullins might feel like the Mets are making finicky adjustments to an already strong roster, in a tight race against a competitor also working to get better, they\u2019re right to seek whatever marginal gains a player like Mullins offers.<\/p>\n

As a result, the Mets sent a trio of relievers back to the Orioles, who seemed to realize they might need to restock after trading away four members of their bullpen who have combined to throw almost 150 innings so far this season.<\/p>\n

(That\u2019s not actually the reason, as only one of these pitchers is anywhere near cracking the majors, but I like the image of Mike Elias stopping at Royal Farms on his way into work and then, just as he\u2019s strolling into his office, smacking his forehead because he forgot to pick up a couple relievers while he was at the store.) The three-pitcher package includes\u00a0Anthony Nunez,\u00a0Chandler Marsh, and\u00a0Raimon Gomez.<\/p>\n

Nunez was originally drafted out of high school as a shortstop, later converted to pitching, and over the span of two seasons and 50 innings pitched, quickly worked his way up to Double-A.<\/p>\n

According to his\u00a0most recent prospect report,courtesy of Eric Longenhagen, his showpiece is an impressive slider that he commands well enough to survive in high-leverage situations at the big league level.<\/p>\n

The report continues, \u201cNunez doesn\u2019t throw all that hard, but he has a good cutter that keeps hitters off of his fastball, and he\u2019ll turn over the occasional sinking changeup. He\u2019s been utterly dominant all year and is a virtual lock to be put on a 40-man roster this offseason.\u201d Based on that evaluation, there\u2019s a decent chance he joins Baltimore\u2019s bullpen next season.<\/p>\n

The other two pitchers fall more into the high upside flamethrowers category. Per his report, Marsh, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia, is \u201cthriving as a reliever at Brooklyn thanks to his vertical slider and a 94-97 mph fastball that plays down due to a lack of control.\u201d Likewise, Gomez struggles to command a high velocity fastball.<\/p>\n

His heater sits 97-103 mph. Quoting from his report, \u201cHis arm speed breaks the sound barrier and when his delivery is synched up, Gomez approaches the upper boundary of what is possible for humans to do with a baseball.<\/p>\n

[But] he has zero idea where it\u2019s going and throws a ton of non-competitive pitches, especially when he throws his low-90s slider, which he lands for a strike less than 60% of the time.\u201d The report further states that Gomez is unlikely to ever be as effective as, say,\u00a0Aroldis Chapman, but (and this is me editorializing now) with that kind of velocity, he\u2019ll almost certainly be given ample opportunity to try.<\/p>\n

The Orioles closed out their deadline dealings by sending Morton to the Tigers. Morton signed with Baltimore on a one-year, $15 million deal back in January. After showing very few signs of aging in recent years, the 41 year-old took a step back this season and even agreed to pitch out of the bullpen for a spell in May. The break from starting seemed to do Morton some good, and he was able to bounce back after an atrocious April and log some productive innings in May and June, but his July has regressed back to his April. For the Tigers to get productive innings from Morton, they\u2019ll need to help him tweak his curveball. The pitch has picked up several additional inches of glove-side movement, impacting his command and his ability to generate groundballs. As a result, hitters are slugging .398 against the curve this year, compared to .309 in 2024.<\/p>\n

The Tigers likely view Morton as an insurance policy, a pitcher who can alternate between spot starting and providing long relief innings out of the bullpen. Morton joins\u00a0Sawyer Gipson-Long,\u00a0Alex Cobb, and rookie\u00a0Troy Melton\u00a0in the mix for the fifth starter spot. Both Gipson-Long and Cobb are working their way back from injuries on uncertain timelines.<\/p>\n

Melton has made just two starts in the majors, giving up six runs over five innings against the Pirates, then throwing seven scoreless against the Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

Though Melton is highly regarded, ranking 70th on our most recent\u00a0Top 100 Prospects list\u00a0and fifth within Detroit\u2019s system, it\u2019s reasonable for the Tigers to avoid putting too much pressure on a guy with 12 innings in the big leagues.<\/p>\n

But Morton wasn\u2019t Detroit\u2019s only addition to the pitching staff. After\u00a0Reese Olson\u00a0went down with a season-ending shoulder surgery a few days ago, the Tigers traded for\u00a0Chris Paddack, though the Tigers clearly feel that more is better when it comes to pitching. With Morton and Paddack in the fold, Detroit also fortified its bullpen at the deadline, adding relievers\u00a0Luke Jackson,\u00a0Codi Heuer,\u00a0Kyle Finnegan,\u00a0Paul Sewald, and\u00a0Rafael Montero.<\/p>\n

In exchange for Morton, Detroit sent 6-foot-7 left-handed reliever\u00a0Micah Ashman\u00a0to Baltimore. Ashman was drafted in the 11th round of the 2024 draft after setting the all-time saves record at Utah. He threw 39 1\/3 innings at High-A before a promotion last week to Double-A, where he logged an additional three scoreless innings.<\/p>\n

Ashman hasn\u2019t allowed a home run all year, and he\u2019s striking out batters at a 30% clip in pro ball and while walking fewer than 6%. He throws a low-90s fastball, a low-80s slider, and a split-finger changeup. Both the slider and changeup generate a ton of swing-and-miss. He creates deception by combining his height with a funky over the top delivery.<\/p>\n

When I asked Eric for the deets on Ashman\u2019s arsenal and future profile, he pegged him as a middle-inning reliever.<\/p>\n

Following fairly quiet offseasons, both the Orioles and Tigers navigated the deadline as volume shooters, acquiring as many players as possible in the hope that a few will work out, be it now or in the future.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a very active offseason for the Mets preceded a deadline where they were able to make more targeted moves to improve on the margins. But as we all know, procrastination doesn\u2019t preclude success \u2014 though it may have caused a delay for the Orioles \u2014 and preparation doesn\u2019t guarantee victory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dale Zanine and Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images Though many predicted heading into the 2025 season that the Orioles\u2019 weak starting rotation and general inactivity over the offseason would… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":73141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBreaking News: Orioles Send Mullins to Mets and Morton to Tigers, and Get a Gaggle of Pitchers in Return - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=73140\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking News: Orioles Send Mullins to Mets and Morton to Tigers, and Get a Gaggle of Pitchers in Return - 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