Trey Mancini Adjusting Game For Leadoff Role
The Baltimore Orioles have not had an everyday leadoff hitter since the days of Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis. While it is still a small sample size, Trey Mancini may be the new answer for the Orioles at the top of the lineup.
Trey Mancini broke onto the scene at the end of the 2016 season when he hit three home runs in 15 plate appearances. He built upon his hot start the next season and finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.
He has already shown his ability to transition from first base to the outfield, and now he looks to be adding a new facet to his game as a leadoff hitter.
Mancini started the first six games of the year batting fifth. In those games Mancini batter just .150, however that number could be higher if not for some great defensive plays in the Houston series.
Since moving to the top of the lineup, Mancini is hitting .391 and has an on base percentage of .481. He also is three for five as the Orioles first batter of the game.
Mancini appears to have developed a different approach since he was made leadoff hitter. For his career, Mancini pulls the ball 36.4 percent of the time, hits it to center 35.1 percet of the time, and goes the other way 28.5 percent. As a leadoff hitter this year, Mancini is now going the opposite way 44.4%, while pulling the ball and going up the middle 27.8% each.
He is also hitting the ball on the ground a considerable amount more. His career ground ball and fly ball percentages are 51.7 and 29.4 respectively. As a leadoff hitter, his ground ball percentage is 77.8 and his fly ball percentage is just 5.6. His line drive percentage is around the same, sitting at 19% for career and 16.7% as leadoff this year.
Mancini is not the prototypical leadoff guy. He is not a guy who will bunt and steal bases, but he has demonstrated good plate discipline so far in the leadoff spot. He has yet to strike out as the first Orioles batter of the game, and has walked four times compared to five strikeouts in that leadoff spot.
Time will tell just how good a leadoff hitter Mancini is. It is a very small sample size and those advanced metrics could return to their normal levels, but so far I have liked what we are seeing.
