Five things we learned from the Orioles’ week, including patience with Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman’s home run tear

How long can the Orioles afford to wait for Cedric Mullins to turn his season around?

The Orioles took two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks and split a rain-shortened series with the Toronto Blue Jays in a week full of comebacks, extra innings and walk-off hits.

Here are five things we learned from their 3-2 start to their homestand.

When the offense sputters, the Orioles have the pitching staff to carry them

The Orioles’ offense looked unstoppable in April. They led the American League with a .762 OPS and homered more than anybody, carrying a lineup with a bottom half nearly as productive as the top. So far in May, the top-of-the-order hitters have shown their hot starts were no fluke while the bottom half has, well, hit like the bottom half of a lineup.

Colton Cowser, the AL Rookie of the Month for April, is hitting .143 with zero home runs since the calendar flipped. Cedric Mullins’ batting average is an even more paltry .067. Jorge Mateo has been a bright spot at second base, but James McCann and Ramón Urías have both been well below league average. The offense as a whole has taken a step back this month, posting a .705 OPS that ranks 12th in baseball.

Yet while the offense has regressed, the Orioles’ pitching staff is having its moment leading the charge. Baltimore’s 2.31 team ERA so far in May is the best in the majors. Corbin Burnes has set the tone with three straight quality starts, but the rotation (2.54 ERA this month) has proven surprisingly deep, so much so that the Orioles are considering a six-man rotation when Grayson Rodriguez returns. The bullpen (1.97 ERA) has somehow been even better.

The Orioles’ offense won’t stay down forever. As the weather gets warmer and everyday roles become more defined, it’s a safe bet that scoring runs won’t be a problem in Baltimore this summer. But while they try to find their groove at the plate, the Orioles are proving they are far from a one-dimensional roster.

Adley Rutschman has another gear, and a clutch one at that

For the first time in his career, Rutschman hit four home runs in three games. The Orioles’ franchise catcher has shown power potential before, but his flurry of long balls put Rutschman on pace for a 30-homer season a quarter of the way through. That would shatter his career high of 20 from last season, when he won a Silver Slugger Award and placed ninth in AL Most Valuable Player voting.

So far, the increase in power hasn’t come at the expense of his on-base skills. Rutschman’s .350 on-base percentage is only 16 points below his career average, and he’s already posted separate hitting streaks of seven and 11 games. There weren’t many similarities between the pitches he hit out — two were changeups, one was a sinker and the other a four-seam fastball — evidence that Rutschman is capable of hitting balls out of the park in a variety of scenarios.

One came with the Orioles staring down their final three outs while trailing the Blue Jays 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon. The 26-year-old took Toronto closer Jordan Romano deep for a walk-off, two-run homer after a frustrating game in which the Orioles hadn’t scored since the first inning. His swing turned what was about to be a three-game losing streak into a series split and helped the Orioles extend their AL-record run of not being swept in the regular season to 105 series.

The spotlight has shined on players such as Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Cowser a lot this season — and deservedly so — but Rutschman, who is second on the team with nine home runs, has continued to produce. If he keeps this home run pace up and comes through in more key spots the way he did Wednesday, the spotlight will swing back his way in a hurry.

Cedric Mullins is losing out on everyday at-bats with his continued struggles

Mullins’ OPS sat at .859 on April 15, the day he hit a walk-off home run to help the Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins. Since then, it has dropped to .583 as the center fielder has become stuck in one of the biggest slumps of his career. Not since 2019 has Mullins recorded fewer than 10 hits over a 21-game stretch, but that’s the territory he finds himself in right now.

Manager Brandon Hyde gave Mullins a couple days off during the Arizona series, saying, “He’s pressing big time.” Mullins then started both games against Toronto, but Hyde decided to pinch hit Austin Hays — who was dealing with a calf injury serious enough that he had to be subbed out for a pinch runner after reaching base — for Mullins after he went 0-for-6 in the series.

The uncomfortable truth of Mullins’ situation is that he still has minor league options remaining and could be sent down to Triple-A Norfolk if these struggles continue. Baltimore’s recent decision-making doesn’t suggest that’s in the club’s immediate plans. The Orioles optioned outfielder Heston Kjerstad back to the minors this week so that he could get everyday at-bats. If they were planning to send Mullins down, Kjerstad would’ve likely stayed so that he could see more playing time in the majors.

With Kyle Stowers, who replaced Kjerstad on the roster, the Orioles have a left-handed hitting outfielder if they decide to push Mullins to the bench. The 2021 All-Star is still a terrific defender in center field and would be a luxury defensive replacement should the Orioles use him that way. The best-case scenario is Mullins reestablishing himself at the plate, but the Orioles’ patience with him won’t last forever.

Craig Kimbrel still has to prove himself, but the rest of the bullpen already has

Kimbrel made three appearances out of the Orioles’ bullpen this week — none of them save opportunities. Hyde has tried to ease his struggling closer back into his usual high-leverage role, though the Orioles’ string of close games has required him to pitch in key spots anyway. Kimbrel has responded with three consecutive scoreless outings, picking up two holds and a win in extra innings.

While Hyde hasn’t revealed when Kimbrel will resume closer duties, the rest of the Orioles’ bullpen has given him plenty of time to figure things out. Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe and Jacob Webb have handled the later innings masterfully. Cano allowed a run Wednesday to snap a streak of eight straight scoreless appearances. Coulombe has a streak of seven in a row going, and the only two runs Webb has allowed over his past nine appearances were unearned.

In front of them, Mike Baumann was instrumental in two of the Orioles’ wins this week with scoreless efforts to bridge the middle innings after the club’s starter ran up his pitch count. Keegan Akin lowered his season ERA to 3.00 this week and continues to pitch in tight situations. Albert Suárez has allowed one earned run in 7 2/3 innings since being moved to the bullpen.

There were plenty of question marks surrounding Kimbrel and the bullpen heading into the season, but right now Kimbrel is the only major puzzle piece out of place. While the Orioles would be remiss not to consider bullpen help at the trade deadline, the current group has emerged as a sudden strength.

The Orioles want to see more Jordan Westburg. It’s hard to blame them.

After Henderson led off each of the Orioles’ first 40 games, Hyde finally decided to give someone else a chance to set the tone for his lineup Wednesday. His choice was Westburg, whose .354 on-base percentage is the highest on the team among qualified hitters.

Westburg, who had not hit leadoff since the minors, took advantage of the opportunity by hitting a home run in his first at-bat and getting on base to score the winning run in his last one. Hyde said after the game that Henderson would likely return to the leadoff spot with the Seattle Mariners starting three right-handed pitchers against them this weekend, but this was likely not the last time Westburg will have his name penciled in atop the order.

Aside from getting on base for the middle of the lineup, the leadoff spot offers the greatest opportunity for at-bats. Over the course of a season, hitting first nets a player about 15 more plate appearances than they would get by hitting in the No. 2 spot. For a player like Westburg, who has hit fifth or lower in all but two games this season, the chance to hit at the top of the order could dramatically boost his end-of-year numbers.

It’s understandable why the Orioles would want to maximize the number of times Westburg gets to the plate. With his two-hit performance Wednesday, he improved his season OPS to .889. In doing so, he passed Henderson (.880) for the highest mark on the team.