After his "toughest two weeks" in the majors, Mancini looks to get bat going

With his decreasing average causing his frustrations to increase, Orioles left fielder Trey Mancini is getting a day off today, at least at the beginning of the game. He is not in tonight's starting lineup.

After going 1-for-13 over the weekend versus Tampa Bay, Mancini went 0-for-4 and hit into a pair of double plays in last night's 6-0 loss to Washington. He is batting .118 (6-for-51) over the past 13 games.

Mancini is well-known for being hard on himself and that was apparent again during an interview this afternoon.

"It has honestly been the toughest two weeks since I've been called up to the majors," Mancini said. "The only time I can compare it to is the beginning of my time in (Single-A) Frederick in 2015. I had a pretty rough time. It's just been tough. Baseball, when you are down and not going well, it can really keep beating you until you get yourself out of it somehow.

"I think I've almost been searching too hard. I think I'm overanalyzing. I've up at the plate and thinking about what I need to be doing instead of just clearing my head and going up and hitting. Been trying to switch things up too much instead of just committing to an approach. That hasn't worked for me."

Over 52 games for the season, the right-handed hitter is batting .235/.310/.377 with seven homers and 17 RBIs.

"Up to this point, I had done a good job of limiting my little slumps," he said. "And I haven't done that (this time). I have so many people around me that are great that help me. Everyone around here and my family that give you advice at times like this. They know how hard I am on myself. Nobody is tougher on themselves, I don't think, than I am. I am my own harshest critic.

"It has been tough on me, but I'm trying to stay the course and simplify it. Just go back to seeing the ball and don't worry about mechanics. Once you get a couple of hits to fall, things can start going better."

It can't be easy for any slumping player to stop beating himself up mentally. Then add to that playing on a team that is in last place at 17-37 and it just adds to the frustrations.

"That makes it twice as hard," Mancini said. "We've been struggling and you feel responsible for that if you are not playing up to your standards. It is much easier to go through this with the club winning more.

"It sounds weird, but you almost have to get to a point where, in a way, you almost like stop caring. You can't worry about your average. You can't dig yourself out of this by worrying about what everyone else is thinking. Sometimes I can go out there to try and prove that I belong here still and there is no reason for me to do that. Just have to go back, enjoy the game, see the pitch and put a good swing on it.

"Sometimes also I've hit some hard balls that were caught and I kind of let that spiral into me getting more mad and it boiled over for me. But I have definitely been feeling better mentally the last few days. I just have to turn the page and start fresh."