Chicago Cubs fans are hoping the Trey Mancini that shows up at Sloan Park in Mesa for spring training will resemble the Mancini who hit 35 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles in 2019.

The Cubs signed the right-handed hitting Mancini, 30, to a 2-year, $14M free agent contract.

Mancini was signed January 20, 2023. It took him a while this offseason to find his new home.

Projected to bat 6th in the Cubs batting order to serve as the team’s designated hitter, Mancini will try to rebound from his worst MLB performance in parts of six major league seasons.

Mancini played for the Baltimore Orioles last year, but was traded August 1 to the Houston Astros in a three-team trade that involved Baltimore, Houston, and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Mancini’s combined totals with the Orioles and Astros included 587 plate appearances in 143 games. He hit a combined .239/.319/.391/.710 with 23 doubles, one triple and 18 home runs. He drove in 63 runs.

In his 51 games with Houston, Mancini saw his batting average plummet to .176 in 186 plate appearances. He had seven doubles, no triples, and eight home runs.

Last season, Mancini just didn’t look like the Mancini of old. In fact, if Mancini were an automobile, his dashboard would read FIND A GAS STATION SOON.

Mancini looked out of gas. He pressed. His swing got long. He became irrelevant. It was painful to watch.

Trey Mancini was an 8th round selection of the Baltimore Orioles out of the University of Notre Dame in the 2013 First Year Player Draft.

Due to his rather low draft position, Mancini was given only a $151,900 bonus when he signed with Baltimore.

Mancini far outperformed his bonus value in parts of six years with Baltimore

Mancini spent three seasons playing for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, finishing with a collegiate batting average of .344 in 164 games. He hit 28 homers, and drove in 133 runs in 707 plate appearances.

After parts of only four minor league seasons in development, Mancini made his big league debut on September 20, 2016, at the age of 24. He served as the Orioles designated hitter against the Red Sox. Mancini homered off Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez in the 5th inning.

While never an All Star, Mancini offered the Orioles a steady hand at both first base and in the outfield. He was a reliable component of an Orioles team that struggled to score runs during most of his tenure in Baltimore.

Mancini’s best year with the Orioles was 2019, when he hit 35 home runs and drove in 97 on his way to a .291 batting average.

Then it happened. Mancini’s life changed.

Mancini was diagnosed with colon cancer in March of 2020. He was 27 at the time.

Mancini missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing six months of chemotherapy.

Mancini’s father, an obstetrician and gynecologist, is a colon cancer survivor. His dad was 58 when he was diagnosed with Stage 2 colon cancer.

Mancini returned to the Orioles lineup in 2021. He received standing ovations, and once again earned the total respect of Orioles fans who warmly and eagerly welcomed his return.

But Mancini’s return was not without a scare.

The Athletic reported that Mancini received word on June 21, 2021 that tests showed an elevation of a carcinoembryonic antigen at an above normal level. Such results could indicate a return of cancer.

The good news came on July 4, when Mancini was advised that further testing proved negative. No cancer was detected.

Mancini won the 2021 American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Mancini had some rough times at the plate for the Orioles in 2022. At one point, he went 0-23, before getting two singles in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles, who at the time were starting to build momentum around exciting young players, traded Mancini to the Astros at the August 1 trade deadline.

Mancini’s Orioles career was over. In reality, he had outperformed his draft slot, but he was moving on to the contending Houston Astros.

Mancini won a World Series ring with Houston, although his time with the Astros included a steep and severe decline in his offensive performance.

When he is on his game, Mancini uses a measured swing. When going well, he keeps his hands inside and avoids turning to an aggressive, upper-cut approach. At his best, Mancini is a line drive hitter with just enough loft to take the ball out of any park.

When he gets aggressive, however, Mancini is prone to “reaching” and chasing for pitches, getting fooled easily as he tries to pound the ball out of the park. That approach doesn’t work for him.

Usually a good fast ball hitter, Mancini has a bit of difficulty with sharp, late breaking sliders. But that’s the case with lots of big league hitters.

Until recently, his timing at the plate had always been good. He generally sees the ball well out of the pitcher’s hand, recognizing rather quickly how the pitcher is working to try to get him out. But if he doesn’t stay balanced, measured, and focused, the results include increased swings and misses.

Last year with Houston, pitchers got him out of his normal game, and he scuffled.

Few statistics illustrate the troubles Mancini faced more clearly than his 2022 postseason performance with the Astros:

Mancini went to the plate seven times for the Astros in the 2022 American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners. He didn’t get a hit.

Mancini went to the plate eight times against the New York Yankees in the 2022 American League Championship Series. He didn’t get a hit.

Mancini went to the plate nine times in the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He got one hit.

In 24 plate appearances, Mancini got one hit, walked once, struck out eight times, and was hit once with a pitch in his only career postseason.

To this scout, Mancini’s range, his speed, his first-step quickness and his agility are major league average. He isn’t a star. He has good ability, but he has to work for success. To his credit, when at his best, he can find the barrel of the bat and use power in his hands, wrists and forearms to his advantage.

After a tough time after being traded to the Houston Astros by the Baltimore Orioles, Trey Mancini gets a chance to show he still has some life in his bat.

Now, after signing as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs, the Cubs and Mancini have to find a way to “jump start” his offense.

Mancini will turn 31 in March. He has had a solid major league career.

It was last season with Baltimore and Houston that led his career astray.

Mancini will be in a revised Cubs lineup with other free agent hitters that have struggled recently. First baseman Eric Hosmer (33) and center fielder Cody Bellinger (27) will also try to revive their careers with the Cubs.

If any of the three get hot, the team will be nicely rewarded.

Mancini has won a successful battle with colon cancer. He is healthy and raring to go.

To this scout, a solid return to form for Trey Mancini would be a very pleasant and welcome outcome for the 2023 Chicago Cubs.