Should Orioles bat Mullins or Mateo leadoff? /MAILBAG

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.

Question: Should the Orioles put Cedric Mullins or Jorge Mateo at leadoff?  Gunnar Henderson is too much of a run producer to have him bat leadoff. From: Kevin Shindel

Answer: Kevin, the Orioles should keep Gunnar Henderson batting leadoff. His on-base percentage is more than 100 points higher than Mullins’ or Mateo’s. Henderson’s power at the top of the order is disruptive and his speed is excellent, too. For years, speedy players often led off but having a powerful player with speed at the top of the order with a high on-base percentage makes the Orioles more dangerous.

Question: With all the different statistics there are today, I was wondering what the cutoff is for an excellent OPS vs. a good one. From: Jim Fickel

Answer: Jim, I would say an .800 OPS, which is the combined on-base and slugging percentage, would be the equivalent of a .300 batting average. Whenever I’m looking at stats, an .800 or higher OPS always catches my eye.