‘He’s a major league hitter’
hit the ball a little more out front and that gives me better trajectory, especially to the opposite field,” Mancini said. “It helped me tremendously. I would say my power numbers have definitely improved right after that.”
Anderson could tell Mancini was able to hit. He just needed a little guidance.
“I’ve been teaching guys for a long time, so you have to be really intuitive with your movement,” Anderson said. “It was about strengthening him up, lengthening his swing. You hear that word and people are like, ‘Lengthening his swing? But how do you create bat speed without distance?’ So it was just some basics that didn’t take very long. Hitters are meant to hit like that. They’ve already reached this professional hitter status. They’re already good.”
Mancini had a breakout 2015 season, hitting .341/.375/.563 between High-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, winning the Eastern League batting title. He also found his power that year, hitting a career-high 21 homers and adding 43 doubles.
After another solid season last year, in which he hit 20 homers in 142 games, most of it spent at Triple-A Norfolk, Mancini received a memorable late-season taste of the majors as a September call-up. His first major league hit was a home run, and Mancini homered in each of his first three starts. He played in only five games, but made the most of them, going 5-for-14.
“It was the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had,” Mancini said. “But it gives me a lot of confidence coming into this year compared to last year. Being a guy who was coming in here last year having been in Double-A the year before as an invitee, I was maybe a little overwhelmed before last year. It definitely gave me confidence.”
Though it was a small sample size, Mancini’s debut served as a springboard into this season and cemented his place as the Orioles’ most major league-ready prospect.