Former Baltimore Orioles Fan Favorite Planning Comeback Next Season

A true Baltimore Orioles fan favorite announced that he intends to make a Major League comeback next season.

Jul 31, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Trey Mancini (16) reacts after striking out against the Cincinnati Reds during the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park. / David Kohl-Imagn Images

Trey Mancini spent all of 2024 at home with his family. He’s ready for a comeback.

The 34-year-old former Baltimore Orioles fan favorite told the Baltimore Banner that he intends to attempt a comeback in 2025 after he failed to make the Miami Marlins’ Opening-Day roster and opted out of his minor-league deal.

That led to his year off from baseball.

Mancini grew into a mainstay with the Orioles after he was drafted in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB draft. 

He made his MLB debut three years later and emerged as a versatile option that could play first base, outfielder and designated hitter. In his first full season with the Orioles in 2017 he finished third in American League rookie of the year voting after he finished with a slash line of .293/.338/.488/.826 with 24 home runs and 78 RBI.

He remained an everyday play for the Orioles through the next two seasons. But, in 2020, he was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and missed the entire COVID-shortened season. A tumor was removed from his colon and he underwent chemotherapy that was completed in November of 2020.

He returned in 2021 and played on Opening Day, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at Camden Yards. He was named AL comeback player of the year after he finished the season with a slash line of .255/.326/.432/.758 with 21 home runs and 17 RBI.

Mancini said he wants to return in part because he wasn’t happy with how is post-Orioles career went down.

“I don’t exactly love how things ended in my career, and I really do think if I’m in the right situation I can still be an impact bat,” Mancini said. “And I know saying that means nothing and I’d have to go out there and prove it, but I’m fully ready to go do that. I just kind of got that hunger back, out of nowhere, honestly.”

The Orioles traded him to the Houston Astros at the 2022 deadline and he his first career grand slam with the Astros. He only slashed .176/.258/.364/.622 with the Astros but contributed to them winning the AL West even though he only participated in 51 games.

He made a key defensive play in Game 5 of the World Series to preserve a victory and help the Astros win the title, giving Mancini his first championship ring.

He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2023 but struggled at the plate. He finished with a slash line of .234/.299/.336/.635, including four home runs and 28 RBI in 79 games. Chicago released him, after which he signed a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds but failed to catch on there as well.