The force clearly not with Mancini
On “Star Wars Night” at Camden Yards, the Orioles were giving away a themed beanie and a special-ticket bobblehead doll that paired Trey Mancini with the lovable droid known as BB-8, so Mancini found himself with some explaining to do.
Of course, everybody wanted to know about his love of the venerable sci-fi franchise, which has spawned annual baseball promotions throughout the major leagues. That’s when things got a little awkward.
Mancini was thrilled to be featured in another bobblehead giveaway, but his knowledge of all things Star Wars is somewhat limited.
“I’m a big Harry Potter fan,’’ he said. “I read the books when I was a kid. Honestly, it might be the last book I read start to finish was a Harry Potter book.”
Wait a minute. Mancini went to the University of Notre Dame and – since he didn’t play football – he had to actually go to class and learn stuff, so he must have read something a bit more advanced than that.
“In college I did some reading,’’ he said. “Obviously, as a political science major I had a lot of reading assignments, but I can’t say I enjoyed them as much as the Harry Potter books.”
Martin sits
Orioles shortstop Richie Martin spent Saturday morning at Roosevelt Park working with more than 300 youth baseball and softball players from the Baltimore area on defensive fundamentals as part of a Play Ball clinic.
Saturday afternoon, he was out of Brandon Hyde’s lineup for the third straight game as the Orioles’ manager tries to find ways to get his 24-year-old rookie into advantageous situations. Since doubling his extra-base hit total with two in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox, Martin has appeared only once, entering as a late-game defensive replacement.
Saturday was the seventh time in nine games with the opponent starting a right-hander that Martin has sat.
“Just trying to pick good matchups for Richie,” Hyde said. “Like the way he swung the bat that day, the doubleheader game, and if we have the lead, obviously, he’ll go in there for defense. But yeah, this is more of just me trying to let him have success and find the right matchups for him.”
Before the doubleheader, Martin was batting .164 and had two hits with seven strikeouts in his prior 17 at-bats. His double and triple against Chicago raised his average 19 points.
Wilkerson thrilled
Stevie Wilkerson had 17 lifetime innings in center field before playing nine out there Friday.
He made a nice play tracking a ball to the warning track amid a clean game as the Orioles continue to experiment with different outfield looks since the demotion of Cedric Mullins left Wilkerson and Joey Rickard as Hyde’s lone center field options. Wilkerson, primarily an infielder throughout his career, has handled the test thus far.
“I think center field is the one outfield spot you hope you get a chance to play,” Wilkerson said.
“When I saw my name in the card yesterday playing center, it was exciting. It was a good opportunity, and I had fun with it.”
Around the horn
Hyde said right-handed reliever Nate Karns will receive a second medical opinion on his forearm soreness Monday. … Right-hander Cody Carroll, who has not pitched this season because of lower back soreness, will resume throwing Monday and should be ready to throw a bullpen by the middle of the month, Hyde said.