You never need to struggle to find something weird about the Baltimore Orioles. That was especially true in 2019, and there was a lot to choose from. Here's one of the weirdest: Stevie Wilkerson, who admitted to reporters he had “never played center field in [his] life before this season,” played almost twice as many innings at that position than anyone else on the team.
The Orioles' roster clearly was not overflowing with outfield talent (or just talent in general), but there was some promise before the season. Cedric Mullins was the opening day center fielder, while Austin Hays waited for his chance as he continued his development in the minors. There was also hope for Trey Mancini to have a bounce-back season.
Mancini ended up bouncing back in a major way with career highs in wRC+ (132) and FanGraphs WAR (3.6), primarily playing right field (87 games) and first base (56). But things didn't go according to plan in center field for much of the season. Mullins couldn't hit and was demoted to Triple-A in late April; Joey Rickard played himself off the roster as well, and Keon Broxton, acquired in May, could only hang around for a couple months before his bat made him unplayable. Even left field was a revolving door until Anthony Santander arrived and held down the fort for a while.
