The Houston Astros added slugger Trey Mancini to the fold. 2 trade deadline just before August In a trade with the Baltimore Orioles. Mancini is off to a scorching start to his Houston career, to say the least, and it’s a reminder of what he could mean for the Astros.
In his second game since the trade, he homered against the Red Sox, and then went deep twice in a 9-3 win over the Guardians in Cleveland on Friday night. His first homer of the night helped him make a bit of history:
And his second homer of the night was the first grand slam of his MLB career:
As of this writing, Mancini has three hits as an Astro, and all three of those hits have been home runs. After Friday night’s big performance, he’s now slashing .268/.345/.425 on the season. No, Mancini won’t continue to hit three home runs every eight at-bats for Houston, but he’s going to be a steady source of power consistently and in the postseason. That’s first and foremost because he’s a very good hitter, and also because he’s going to be a much better fit in his new home ballpark.
You may recall that the Orioles adjusted the left field dimensions at Camden Yards before the season. The new left field wall is about 30 feet farther from home plate than it was before, as well as five feet taller. According to estimates made by Baltimore Sun. While Mancini has strength in all areas, he was badly hurt by these changes in Baltimore. Now he’s in Houston, which has perhaps the most appropriate left field porch in all of MLB. Perhaps not coincidentally, Mancini has shown a more athletic style since the trade. Yes, the data sample is ridiculously small, but it remains to be seen if this trend continues.
We know Mancini has plenty of power. He has a 35-homer season, and struck out 21 last year after missing all of 2020. His first season after winning his battle against colon cancer. Now that he’s in a home ballpark that isn’t actively working against him — and will very likely help him significantly — you might see a return to Mancini’s peak.