Trey Mancini is on the comeback trail. The Orioles star was shown taking swings on his Instagram story Thursday, the latest step forward in his recovery from Stage III colon cancer. Shortly after his diagnosis (Mancini had surgery to remove a malignant tumor in March), the 28-year-old announced his illness would prevent him from seeing the field again in 2020.
Mancini has steadily progressed since then, undergoing his final chemotherapy treatment on September 21st. In honor of that milestone, the O’s posed for a team picture in right field (where the Baltimore slugger would have played had he suited up this season) while donning t-shirts with the slogan “F16ht,” a nod to Mancini’s uniform number. Mancini was visibly choked up when presented a framed copy of the photo with handwritten messages from each of his Orioles teammates.
The 6’4” outfielder has indicated he hopes to return in 2021 and getting his cuts in during Thursday’s batting cage session would suggest he’s making significant progress toward that goal. A Florida native who starred for Notre Dame before arriving in Baltimore as an eighth-round draft pick in 2013, Mancini was arguably the Orioles’ top hitter in 2019, pacing the club in home runs (35), RBI (97), doubles (38), walks (63) and slugging percentage (.535). 2020 hasn’t exactly been chock full of “feel good” moments, but this is one of them.
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