Chicago pregame notes and Trey Mancini's appreciation for O's winning ways

CHICAGO - As the Orioles play the Chicago Cubs today to start a three-game series at Wrigley Field, manager Brandon Hyde expects to see a good number of Orioles fans in the stands.

That was the case last July 12-13 when the O's swept a two-game series at Wrigley.

"We are traveling well," Hyde said pregame in the visitors' dugout. "I'm loving the way our fans are traveling. It's been a lot of fun on the road to see and to hear during the anthem. That's when you notice it the most, honestly, during the anthem. I've been pleasantly surprised. The way they are showing up for us on the road has been awesome."

Hyde provided a brief update on first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who went on the 10-day injured list Tuesday due to vertigo.

"He is starting to feel a little bit better," Hyde said. "But he's still a little bit under the weather."

Hyde talked about his team facing right-hander Kyle Hendricks (1-2, 3.09 ERA) today. Hendricks finished third for the National League Cy Young Award on the 2016 Cubs team that ended their World Series drought. Hyde was the first base coach on that team.

"He is one I love, Kyle Hendricks," he said. "He has pitched some of the biggest games that I've ever seen. He is just a master at his craft. He is going to be very prepared and will know every single thing about every one of our hitters. And then he has a game plan to go with it, with plus command of 87 to 89 (mph) and a changeup that can go both ways with good command of that too. You can't pick a side of the plate or a speed. He is totally unpredictable with what he will throw with movement. You just hope he makes some mistakes in the middle part of the plate."

Hendricks began this year on the injured list and did not pitch for the Cubs until May 25. He is coming off a great outing in San Francisco, where he pitched eight scoreless innings against the Giants, giving up just one hit and making just 94 pitches. 

Mancini on the Orioles: Former Oriole Trey Mancini noted today that he is coming up soon on the 10-year anniversary of his first professional game. It was June 19, 2013 for the then short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds.

He would go on to do some special things in Baltimore and has a connection with the team, town and fans that remains strong to this day. A day he will face the Orioles batting sixth for his second different team since he was traded by the club to Houston last Aug. 1. He won a World Series ring with the Astros last fall and signed with the Cubs via free agency this winter.

He played with the Orioles when they were losing big and seemed a long way from a team that would be near the top of the American League East. But the club he faces today is 43-25 (.632) and holds the second-best record in the major leagues.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Mancini said this morning in the Cubs clubhouse. “They have turned it around quickly. In 2018 we had a really tough year and Mike (Elias) and Sig (Mejdal) and Hyder (Brandon Hyde) came in and they turned it around in a few years. It’s a tip of the hat to them and what they were able to do. A really impressive turnaround.”

Mancini played games last year against the Orioles after the trade, going 2-for-17 in six games with Houston.

“Last year it was definitely a little strange,” he said. “I had just gotten traded and we played them twice. So, it was definitely a little weird, especially because I was on the team in 2022. But now a year removed, it truly is just like any other series. It’s just a team that I happen to have a lot of friends on, basically, so that’s how it feels.”

Maybe just another team in that sense, but clearly a close feeling with the players wearing the other jerseys.

“A lot of them came to my wedding this offseason. I still keep in touch with them," Mancini said. "They are playing great, which is no surprise to me. I saw the turnaround last year, saw it happening, and those guys have kept it going. They’ve done an incredible job.”

Mancini today said he felt Hyde would be the right guy to lead the rebuild/turnaround, and he knew that right away.

“I knew it from day one that he was. He came in there and established a culture," Mancini said of his former skipper. "He came from here (the Cubs) and once I got here, I could tell that he came from Chicago. You know, he handled ’19, I wasn’t around in ’20, but ’21 were some tough years for us. The way he carried himself and handled it was incredible. He got rewarded last year. I think the turnaround is a huge testament to him and the job he’s done there. What he expects of his guys. He was such a pleasure to play for and someone I consider a friend.”