Mancini Assured He’s In Orioles’ Plans

DURHAM, N.C.—Trey Mancini knows September callups are looming. With his play at Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles No. 6 midseason prospect is making a convincing case to be one of them.

An 0-for-5 performance on Friday night at Durham aside, Mancini is in the midst of a largely successful campaign with the Tides. The 2013 eighth-rounder out of Notre Dame entered the evening hitting .293/.363/.455 with 13 homers and 48 RBIs since being promoted to Triple-A in late April.

Overall, the 24-year-old first baseman ranks in the top five in the Orioles system in batting average, home runs, RBI, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

“I definitely want the callup,” Mancini said. “I’ve been playing baseball my whole life with the goal of making it to the major leagues. It’s something I’ve worked hard for and something that would definitely be awesome.

“It can be complicated. I understand that. I just keep trying to go out and play hard every day and hopefully it will end with a callup.”

The Orioles are currently set at first base and designated hitter with Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez, respectively, but Mancini keeps making a case.

After struggling a bit in his first month at Triple-A after being promoted, Mancini is hitting .309 with an .838 OPS since June 1, a sustained run of success that has his coaches believing he’s largely ready for the next step.

“I learned a long time ago there’s no sure things, but he definitely has a bright future ahead of him,” said Norfolk hitting coach Sean Berry, an 11-year major league veteran. “He has some transitions to make as he moves to the next level. Whether it’s this year or next year, I think he’ll be fine.”

The Orioles resigning of Davis in the offseason raised questions whether the organization would have room for Mancini in the future. Mancini took the news in stride, and said he’s received encouraging words from team officials about his future with the franchise despite the signing.

“I mean, who wouldn’t want Chris Davis back? He’s one of the most dangerous hitters in the game,” Mancini said. “They’ve told me, and I believe this too, that if I hit well and play well there will be a spot for me somewhere. Might be at first, might be DH, I’m not exactly sure, but I think there are still opportunities for me here for sure.”

Mancini is demonstrating loud and clear to his coaches at Norfolk why he was worthy of such an assurance.

“Being an ex-major league hitting coach, one of things I always look for is ability to get to the fastball. Not just any fastball, but a major league fastball, 95-96,” Berry said. “He has shown that ability.

“In the amount of at-bats he’s had and the amount of quality pitchers he’s seen, guys with a lot of major league experience, he’s been exposed to a lot of good things this year and he’s pretty much jumped every hurdle. There’s a few more steps he’d like to make, but a lot of that will just come with experience. We’re looking forward to some great things for him.”

Along with improvements on defense at first base—”I guess that used to be one of the knocks on him, but we’ve had no problems with him at first base,” Berry said—Mancini has gone from promising prospect to one who is knocking on the door. Even if the callup doesn’t come this September, it doesn’t figure to be long before he gets his first crack at the major leagues.

“I hope it happens, but I’ll understand if it doesn’t,” Mancini said. “It’s mostly out of my control. Playing well helps. That’s all I really try to worry about.”

NEWS AND NOTES

Durham righthander Jaime Schultz, the Rays’ No. 10 prospect at midseason, struggled mightily with his control and was pulled after throwing 90 pitches in three-plus innings. He walked six, struck out six, and threw 52 balls compared to 48 strikes.

It’s been a season-long battle for Schultz, who entered the day holding the minor league strikeout lead but also is allowing 4.7 walks per nine innings. He sat 93-96 mph with his fastball but was unable to locate his 78-81 curveball and mid-80s slider for strikes all night, missing with his slider down and his curveball up.

Norfolk starter Mike Wright, the Orioles’ preseason No. 10 prospect, got hit hard but was repeatedly saved by his defense. The 6-foot-6 righthander gave up seven hits in five innings and three other hard drives to the outfield were snared by diving fielders. Mike Yastrzemski made two diving catches in right to save run-scoring hits, while center field L.J. Hoes made a diving catch off the bat of Daniel Robertson with runners in scoring position in the fourth. Wright’s fastball sat 91-94 without much movement while showing a 90-91 mph sinker, 85-87 slider and 74-76 curveball, none of which generated many swings and misses. He had only one strikeout.

Robertson, the Rays’ No. 10 preseason prospect, went 1-for-4 with two walks and was robbed of a run-scoring double by Hoes. He also made two highlight-reel plays defensively at third base, including a leaping stab on a liner by Francisco Pena down the line.

Norfolk left fielder Dariel Alvarez, the Orioles’ No. 13 prospect, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Designated hitter Christian Walker, Baltimore’s No. 14 prospect, went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.