Notre Dame Baseball: Five former Notre Dame players to watch in Spring Training
By Matt Clark
Boomer, as Trey Mancini was affectionately nicknamed during his time playing for Notre Dame’s baseball team, is primed to begin his fourth season in the major leagues, having played the entirety of his career with the Baltimore Orioles
A former first baseman and outfielder for the Irish, Mancini played for Notre Dame from 2011 through 2013, when he was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 8th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.
Called up on September 18th, 2016 to make his major league debut against the Boston Red Sox, Mancini became only the fourth player in Orioles history to hit a home run as his first major league hit. He would homer again the next two games and become only the third player in Major League Baseball history to hit a home run in his first three games to start his career.
Following a strong 2017 rookie campaign, Mancini would be named an American League Rookie of the Year Award finalist along with Andrew Benintendi of the Boston Red Sox and the eventual winner, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.
Mancini would lead the Orioles in most offensive categories last season after posting a .291 batting average, with 35 home runs, 97 runs batted in, and 106 runs scored. He is currently expected to man right field for what is expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball in 2020.
That said, Mancini is expected to again be a leader in the clubhouse for Baltimore, both in offensive production and as a seasoned veteran in a very young clubhouse. If Mancini can put up numbers similar to those of last season, he is likely to be named an All-Star.