Orioles rookieMancini hitting like a veteran
When the Baltimore Orioles thumped the Texas Rangers 10-2Wednesday night, the seventh inning was the big one. The Orioles exploded for seven runs and they batted around. And the rally started, and ended, with outfielder Trey Mancini.
Mancini led things off with a swinging bunt single to Rangers starting pitcher Martin Perez. Eight batters, four singles, two pitchers, two outs, one error and four runs later, Mancini was back at the plate with the bases loaded. He cleared them with a stand-up triple to right.
Mancini is a rookie, but entering Thursday’s series finale against the Rangers, he led the O’s in hitting with a .309 batting average, the third highest among rookies in Major League Baseball. His15 homers put him in a tie for fifth on the team with slugger Mark Trumbo. However, he will probably finish second or third in voting for the American League rookie of the year award. That potential result comes as a surprise to Orioles manager Buck Showalter.
Before Thursday night’s series finale against the Rangers, Showalter asked: “Who’s the rookie of the year front-runners?”
Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ home run-swatting right fielder, was a common answer.
“He’s got a shot,” Showalter responded.
But even if Judge wins the honor, Showalter says he knows how much he and the Orioles value what he’s doing and howhard it is.
“You think he might not be swinging the bat particularly well, he’s one of those guys that when you look up there and he’s 1 for 4, that’s where batting averagesandthose thingscome from,” Showalter said of Mancini after Wednesday’s win. “They’re not the 4 for 4’s. It’s when they’re not swinging the bat particularly well and they’re pitching you really tough, which they are, he’s not sneaking up on anybody right now, that you sneak in that 1 for 4, he shoots that ground ball single to right and right now I just hope he can stay where he is in his career with his ego. He doesn’t care about shooting a ball off the right fieldwall, he’ll give in and hit a ball to right field, so we’ll see if some of the lures will make it tougher to keep doing that, but his ability to do that is what makes him a
good player.”
Mancini bats sixth in the Baltimore lineup and when Chris Davis went down with a right oblique strain, the 25-year-old transitioned from the outfield to first base. Even though Mancini hits closer to the bottom part of the lineup, he still ranked fourth in RBIs amongqualifying rookies in the majors with 50 prior to Thursday night’s game. And his 14 home runs before the all-star breakwere themost ever hit by an Orioles rookie before the summer classic.
Said Mancini after Wednesday’s three-RBI night, “As a rookie, I try to stay pretty evenkeeled even if it might not be the caseonthe inside. Youwant to stay even-keeled outwardly and just try to help your team win and try to do anything you can in that regard.”