WASHINGTON — Lined up with his new teammates during the national anthem, Cedric Mullins felt the full gravity of what had happened.

It was Aug. 1, the day after the trade deadline, and, after a whirlwind 24 hours, Mullins was suddenly in New York wearing a Mets uniform. The Orioles, the only team he had never known, had traded him the day prior as they sold off nine players ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

In this moment, all Mullins could think about was the silence. He was so accustomed to playing for the Orioles, whose fans always shout “O!” during the seventh line of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” both at home and on the road. At Citi Field, the quiet was a reminder of how much had changed.

“I am still not used to not hearing it,” he said Tuesday ahead of the Mets’ game against the Nationals.

Aside from that, the transition has gone smoothly, Mullins said. While he hasn’t performed great at the plate — he’s hitting .173 with one home run in 15 games since the trade — he is on a team that is slated to make the playoffs. The Mets are currently a game ahead of the Reds for the third wild-card spot.

Even so, this was not the future that Mullins envisioned in spring training. He knew his time with the Orioles was likely to end soon — he will be a free agent after this season and the team does not have a track record of re-signing or extending players — but Baltimore was coming off back-to-back playoff appearances. There was no indication that 2025 wouldn’t go the same way.

That was, at least, until the injuries hit. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, right-hander Andrew Kittredge and outfielder Colton Cowser were on the injured list by the end of the first series. Catcher Gary Sánchez, outfielder Tyler O’Neill, infielder Jordan Westburg and Zach Eflin would join them during the first month of the season.

“Some guys we were expecting to have pretty good years for us coming up went on the shelf pretty early,” Mullins said. “Kind of created a hole and created an expectation for a lot of other guys to step into pretty big roles. It’s something that some guys can do, and it just didn’t really work out in that way this time around.”

It was clear pretty early that these injuries would cause an issue, especially as the Orioles were 12-18 by the end of April. So what should the front office have done to shore up the roster before it was too late?

“I don’t know if that’s necessarily something I can answer,” Mullins said. “It just didn’t work out — that’s kind of the nature of the game in that sense. Very talented group and I see it happen amongst other sports, really good group of guys can’t quite put it together when they need to.”

Mullins also said that the Orioles 100% needed a leader — and still do. In previous seasons, the team had veterans like James McCann or Aaron Hicks who led the clubhouse. Mullins said he feels like he would have taken on that role at the right time, but that he was forced into it. The lack of veteran leadership is something current players like Jordan Westburg have also spoken up about.

“I think guys naturally step into those roles just depending on where you are with the team, with the organization,” Mullins said. “Some guys take the challenge. It’s not easy to hold everyone accountable inside the clubhouse, it’s not easy to build guys up that might not be in the right space mentally; it’s not easy to just take charge in all aspects and on top of staying on top of your game as well.”

Instead of finding the pieces necessary to help the team, the Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde and major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins on May 17 with the team at 15-28. Mullins said he still doesn’t know if that was the right move or not. The Orioles have played better under interim manager Tony Mansolino. But at 44-39, they are just slightly above .500 since the firing.

After trading Bryan Baker prior to the All-Star break, it was clear to the team that the front office was moving on to 2026. Some players, such as Gregory Soto, who was also traded to the Mets, started using outings as auditions. He’s had no trouble transitioning to the Mets and has not allowed an earned run in 8 1/3 innings.

“I’m sure that the front office, the reason for selling off some players was because they knew they couldn’t get out of that rough patch,” Soto said. “But at the same time, what happens, happens. The decisions had already been made.”

Soto, who will also be a free agent at the end of the season, knew he was going to be traded. Mullins wasn’t as sure. The deadline fell on an off day in Chicago, and he had the option to stay in Baltimore to wait and see what happened or fly with the team the night before. He decided to travel with the team — he wanted to keep his routine as normal as possible, in case he wasn’t traded.

Shortly before the deadline, Mullins got the call. He was excited for a new opportunity, but also emotional about leaving his teammates.

His time with the Orioles, which began in 2015 when he was drafted in the 13th round and included an All-Star appearance, a 30-30 season and a Silver Slugger Award, went by in the blink of an eye. He hopes the guys he left behind never take a second of it for granted.

“You’re in the battle, you’re in the grind every single day. Days can kind of pass you by when you’re going through the process of the season,” he said. “I think the biggest thing for me is just remembering it all, taking a step back, slowing things down. I had a lot of really cool moments that felt like flashes in the pan. So tell those guys to always appreciate being major league players. It’s not easy, what we do is not easy and all the aspects that come with it. But it’s supposed to be fun at the same time.”