Trey Mancini's Incredible Story Continues as an Angel

Spring training serves many purposes. Young players are in camp trying to make a name for themselves. Stars are trying to get ready for the season. Then there are the grizzled veterans trying to stay in the game just one more summer.

Trey Mancini fits that last role in Angels camp this year. The 33 year old first baseman's life story will some day make a great book but for now he's hoping to add one more chapter to his playing career. Mancini signed a minor league deal with the Angels yesterday and will be in big league camp hoping to make the team.

Even on a team like the Angels, the odds are against him. But beating the odds is nothing new to Mancini, who survived stage 3 colon cancer in 2020 and returned to Major League Baseball the following season.

The fact Mancini is still playing is incredible.

Trey's fight against cancer came amid the backdrop of the pandemic. While it reached out across the baseball world, the world in general was focused elsewhere. Here is a great piece on Mancini's inspiring return to baseball from 2021 that I highly recommend.

Simply surviving stage three cancer is remarkable in and of itself. The physical toll of surgery and chemotherapy can leave a person changed for the rest of their life. To both survive and recover to the point of again being a world class athlete is simply incredible.

And his story gets better from there.

Heading into the 2021 season, Mancini rejoined the Baltimore Orioles and the baseball worried wondered if the slugger could regain his form. Splitting time between first base and designated hitter Mancini appeared in a whopping 147 games and popped 21 home runs. Fans who knew his story gave him standing ovations in ballparks across the country.

Mancini was named Comeback Player of the Year in 2021. He received the award just over a year after being told his cancer treatment was a success. And this was not a sentimental vote for a nice guy. While Mancini is lauded in the baseball community for his great personality, he put up an above average slash line of .255/.326/.432 in 2021.

With Baltimore in the midst of a rebuild they flipped Mancini to the Houston Astros midway through the 2022 season. Fans in Baltimore were sad to see him go, but most cheered him on as he picked up a World Series championship that October.

Mancini was a beast with Baltimore in 2022 but really fell off once he landed in Houston. Following a bad showing with the Astros he signed a one year deal with the Cubs before the 2023 season but failed to produce and was released in August.

And now for the comeback.

Following the 2023 season Mancini believed he was out of baseball. He did not play at all in 2024 and said he was had come to terms with moving on from baseball. But then he started talking to an old friend and making some swing changes.

Former teammate Brady Anderson started working with Mancini and ultimately helped him land a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Playing in the launching pad of Reno, Mancini crushed AAA pitching to the tune of a .308/.373/.522 line with 16 home runs in 74 games.

The Pacific Coast League is a hitter's paradise and Reno is among the more hitter friendly environments, but Mancini showed he still had a good eye. His career on base percentage in the big leagues is .328 and he's always had pop.

While that showing did not result in a Major League invite last year, it did put Mancini on teams radars. When Brady Anderson was hired as the Angels new hitting coach, a path to a minor league deal was created. Now the two get to reunite in Tempe as Mancini attempts to keep his improbable comeback going.

Mancini is the best story in Angels camp.

This has been an especially tough off season for the Angels. Coming off a consecutive 90+ loss campaigns, the team has failed to bring in high level talent and thus far is cutting payroll extensively. There isn't a shiny new free agent to fawn over or a potential Rookie of the Year getting a look.

No, there's something far more substantial. There's Mancini. A man who nearly lost his life at age 28 and brings a smile to the ballpark every day. He's the guy who realizes baseball is a game and he's living his dream and he just wants one more summer in the sun.

By all accounts he's also a guy who is just as happy helping a teammate have success as he is when he has success. For a team with youngsters like Nolan Schanuel and Jo Adell looking to round out their offense, Mancini is an ideal teammate.

So whether you're an older guy who wants to turn back the clock one last time. Or perhaps a cancer survivor. Most likely you've lost a loved one to cancer. Maybe you just like to see good people have success. There are a ton of reasons to root for Trey Mancini. Let's enjoy the fact we get to do so while he's wearing Angels red.