Nice rookie season: Trey Mancini has hit for average and power

Orioles rookie Trey Mancini hit better than .300 for his minor league career. He is doing that this year in the majors, showing even more power than he showed for much of his time on the farm.

For his minors career, Mancini hit .306/.357./472 with an OPS of .829. For the 2017 Orioles, he is batting .305/.351/.544 with an OPS of .895.

Mancini hit 20 homers last year, but seven came when he began the 2016 season with Double-A Bowie. For Triple-A Norfolk in tough-to-homer Harbor Park, he had 13 home runs in 483 at-bats. For the Orioles this season, he has 14 homers in 239 at-bats. The 14 homers are the most by an O's rookie by the All-Star break. The previous high was the 13 hit by Curt Blefary in 1965 and Eddie Murray in 1977.

Mancini has shown a strong ability to hit the ball to all fields and has shown impressive power to right and right-center. What allows him to be so good in driving the ball to the off field?

"I think he stays behind the baseball and that's a product of who he's been in the minor leagues," Orioles hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh said. "That's why he's been a high average guy - he's hit .350 on the farm (.359 at Double-A Bowie in 2015). He will take what's given to him. He can have a couple of tough at-bats and then come through with a hit.

"He is real conscientious about what pitchers are trying to do him and is a real smart kid. He's a fighter. He wants to go up there and battle you and not give in. You see him sometimes fight off some pitches and foul off some pitches to get an extra pitch.

"You don't find a lot of guys with that type of power as a young player that can hit as well to the opposite field with power. Like a Mike Piazza. That gives you a lot of comfort as a hitter, knowing you can drive the ball that way with authority. You don't ever have to speed up your swing."

Yeah, that is legit power when you can homer all over the ballpark.

"Anytime you see a guy drive the ball to the opposite field with power, that's legitimate," Coolbaugh said. "Chris Davis is one. Trey is one. We see a lot of guys with pull power only. Trey is the closest thing I've seen to the Mike Piazza off-field power in a long time.

"It's refreshing. Hopefully, he rubs off on some other guys. We have guys that have the ability to drive the ball to all fields, but sometimes utilize only one side. That can make you speed up the bat and chase pitches."

The 25-year-old Mancini has hit .325 with an OPS of .967 versus right-handed pitchers. In 27 games in June, he hit .340/.383/.630 with seven homers and 19 RBIs. Coolbaugh said Mancini really does his homework on opposing pitchers and takes that knowledge and preparation into the games.

"He is making improvements and adjustments all the time," Coolbaugh said. "And he has that ability to take it from the dugout and on-deck circle to the batter's box. Some guys take it out there, but it goes away once they step into the box. He's able to sustain that and it's been a pleasure to see."

Mancini has even been outstanding batting with runners in scoring position, hitting .404, which is among the best averages in the majors in such situations. He is batting .476 when batting with RISP and two outs.

So he's hit for average and power. He has hit in the clutch. What is the ceiling for Mancini?

"You know, it's amazing, you say how much more can he do? As a rookie, look at what he has done for our club," Coolbaugh said. "I really don't think we would be in the position we were in the first month without Trey Mancini. We really didn't have much offense and he always seemed to come up with a clutch hit or hit a homer to get us energized.

"I don't know, it's hard to say. You hope there is a lot more to come as we enjoy what he is doing right now. If he can build off this and get better, who knows what the ceiling can be?"