Was September surge a glimpse of the future for Trey Mancini?

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles' Trey Mancini has made a few general references to an adjustment he's made to his offensive approach. He's not going to get very specific, because he doesn't want opposing pitchers to get a sense of what he has done.

He recently mentioned he's often aiming to hit the ball at the second baseman - essentially drive the ball to right-center - and that he might be aiming a bit over the second baseman's head to presumably help him drive the ball.

He already wears out right-center pretty well, we know that. So is he just looking to lift the ball a bit more?

"A little bit," Mancini said during an interview on Sunday morning. "I'm not trying to necessarily hit fly balls. It's more just a mental thing. When I'm at the plate, instead of thinking, 'Hit a line drive at the second baseman's head,' I'm just kind of aiming like a line drive off the batter's eye or something with an upward trajectory. I don't want to sky the ball or hit fly balls.

"I've by and large been the same hitter my whole life. I never change - I'm always thinking right-center field when I'm at the plate. Just kind of setting your sights a little higher and being maybe a little more selective throughout the count, too. That helps. There are a few mental things you put in your head. I don't really want to say in an interview what my exact approach is at the plate. But I've got a couple of mind games I kind of play with myself up there to kind of help me with my selection and aggressiveness."

Mancini is coming off a big year. Last season, he hit .291/.364/.539 with 38 doubles, two triples, 35 homers, 97 RBIs and an .899 OPS in 2019. Mancini, who was voted Most Valuable Oriole, became the 10th different player in Orioles history to record a season with at least 30 doubles, 30 home runs and 100 runs scored.

After putting together such a strong season in 2019, I wondered why he would tinker with anything. This is where Mancini revealed it was essentially the past we were talking about. This tinkering or adjusting, if you will, actually took place late last year. Now he just wants to carry that over into this year.

"I did it in September," Mancini said of his tweaks. "So it is what I did all September and I want to try to carry that into this year. Because I felt really good and I always felt like I was on the offensive then. It was probably my most consistent month. I think being consistent is such a good quality and it's what I'm striving for."

Last July, Mancini posted an OPS of .801 and that number was .822 in August. Those were solid numbers, but nothing like what he did in September. In 26 games in the month, he batted .365/.433/.615 with eight doubles, six homers, 23 RBIs and an OPS of 1.049. He had a huge month, so whatever he did do took hold nicely in that last month.

Some of what he improved upon came about with discussions with his 2019 hitting coaches.

"In talking to Don (Long) and Howie Clark, when he was here last year, we were talking about what counts I hit the best in and everything like that and something clicked," Mancini said. "Almost had like a little epiphany. Kind of helped me with my approach at the plate and what to kind of put in my head. So, yeah, I'm going to try and stick to that this year."

He should with numbers like he posted last season, especially late last season. Already having a big year, Mancini turned it up a notch at the end of 2019. He wants to pick up in that exact spot come March 26.