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Former Orioles fan favorite flaming out during Angels spring training

It has been a rough go for the veteran...
Baltimore Orioles' Trey Mancini is up to bat during Friday's spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Sarasota. [HERALD-TRIBUNE STAFF PHOTO / DAN WAGNER]
Baltimore Orioles' Trey Mancini is up to bat during Friday's spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Sarasota. [HERALD-TRIBUNE STAFF PHOTO / DAN WAGNER] | Dan Wagner / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Spring training is in full swing which gives fans a chance to not only assess where their favorite team stands ahead of the regular season, but also provides a chance to remember some fan-favorites. Baltimore Orioles fans will always be fond of Trey Mancini, but he is struggling badly right now with the Angels as he tries to make the team.

The Angels signed the slugger to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training. He has not taken advantage of the opportunity thus far as he has just two hits in 19 plate appearances and has walked twice while striking out four times.

Mancini needed a strong showing in Arizona in order to make the team, so it seems pretty unlikely that he will get his first taste of the big leagues since 2023 when he was with the Chicago Cubs.

Ex-Orioles fan favorite Trey Mancini is struggling badly this spring

Mancini spent the first five and a half seasons of his big league career with Baltimore and he was a solid, productive player during his tenure with the team. His best season came in 2019 when he slashed .291/.364/.535 with 35 home runs and 97 runs batted in. There were discussions at the time about whether Baltimore should extend him, trade him, or just wait. They opted to wait and eventually in 2022 the Orioles traded him to the Houston Astros.

That's when things started to go south for Mancini even though he did win a World Series with the Astros that season. After getting traded, he slashed .176/.258/.364 with eight home runs and 22 runs batted in. Unsurprisingly, the Astros did not bring him back the following season. He got a chance the following season with the Chicago Cubs but it was a struggle. He slashed .234/.299/.336 with four homers and 28 runs driven in as his WAR was -1.1.

After that he bounced around, getting a chance with the Diamondbacks but ultimately opting out of his deal there because he did not make it to the big leagues despite putting up solid numbers with Arizona's Triple-A affiliate where he slashed .308/.373/.522 with 16 homers and 62 runs batted in.

Signing with the Angels made sense because it reunited him with Brady Anderson, a former Oriole who gave Mancini pointers when he was a young player trying to find his way. Anderson is now the hitting coach for the Angels. Unfortunately, that reunion has not borne fruit thus far. Maybe Mancini can get things turned around in the final few weeks of Cactus League play.

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