Mancini on Mountcastle: "He's got all the talent in the world"

The parallels and comparisons aren't lost on Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini. What Ryan Mountcastle endured earlier this season, labeled as a dreaded sophomore slump whose existence isn't mythical in baseball circles, felt eerily familiar.

Mancini matched his home run total of 24 following his 2017 breakout season, when he ranked third in American League Rookie of the Year voting. But that's where the similarities reached a dead end.

The batting average fell from .293 to .242, the OPS from .826 to .715. He drove in 20 fewer runs in nine more games and his strikeouts rose from 139 to 153.

Beginning on June 30 and running through July 14, Mancini collected only three hits in 37 at-bats with three RBIs and 12 strikeouts. His average shrank to .216 with a .655 OPS.

Mountcastle slashed .333/.386/.492 with five doubles, five home runs and 23 RBIs last summer after the Orioles promoted him Aug. 21, raising expectations to tree-top heights. He already was in the discussion for Rookie of the Year in 2021 before seeing his first pitch.

A 2-for-28 stretch in April led to speculation that the Orioles might provide a reset by optioning him to Triple-A Norfolk, where he could work in a less-pressurized environment. Mountcastle was striking out in 41 percent of his at-bats. Bad habits had crept back into his approach.

It's agreed that he's too good to stay in a funk, that adjustments made against him - more breaking balls, for instance - can be countered by a player who's hit at every level.

"He's got all the talent in the world," Mancini said yesterday before watching Mountcastle homer again.

"He's like me, the name of the game is confidence and the name of the game for both of us is not chasing too many pitches, getting in hitter's counts. If we're in hitter's counts, we're going to be pretty darn good, and Ryan especially. I mean, he's got some of the quickest hands, some of the most natural hitting ability I've ever seen. I think he's an incredible hitter, I think he's going to have an amazing career and I think he's got the potential to be a multiple-year All-Star guy. I really do.

"In the last week or so, we've seen him just going up with a little more confidence and swinging at pitches he can handle more, and whenever you do that, you're going to start driving the ball and that's what he's doing right now. So it's awesome to see. I knew it was a matter of time."

Mountcastle has homered in three consecutive games for the first time in his career, including yesterday's 447-foot blast - the longest by any Oriole this season - and he's the first Baltimore rookie to accomplish the feat since Jonathan Schoop on Sept. 2-4, 2014. He's homered in four of his last five games and five of 11. He also doubled yesterday, the highest exit velocity reading from an Orioles player this season at 114.6 mph, and has nine extra-base hits in 11 games and 13 hits in 38 at-bats.

Friday night's go-ahead home run was the first for Mountcastle in the seventh inning or later.

"You're going to go through some growing pains," Mancini said. "I did it in 2018. It's very similar. But I'd almost say his didn't last as long as mine did back in 2018. Having gone through that, I knew he was going to be fine, but it doesn't make it any easier whenever you're not feeling like yourself and not feeling like you're hitting to your potential.

"I was not worried about him in the slightest bit and now this last week-plus, two weeks, we're seeing who Ryan Mountcastle really is and that's an absolutely incredible hitter."

A hitter who appears to have moved past his slump, leaving it behind like the bases he circles.

"You never know with this game, it's so hard," Mountcastle said, "but as of right now, I'm feeling pretty good and I'll try to keep it rolling."

Whether he's in the lineup at first base or in left field. He's going to be found somewhere in the heart of it if he stays hot.

"When he's really got a nice, middle-of-the-field approach and he catches one out in front on an off-speed pitch, he shows you the kind of power he has," said manager Brandon Hyde. "It's just being a little more consistent approach-wise for me. It's not his swing, it's more of his approach and just continuing to stay on the baseball."