Trey Mancini Moving On Up

The story of ex-Irish slugger Trey Mancini is an inspiring one: an undrafted, undervalued high school recruit, Mancini was overshadowed coming out of a 2010 hotbed of Florida high school talent the included current big leaguers like Manny Machado and Nick Castellanos. Now he's just one step away from the major leagues.

Mancini dominated offensively during his time at Notre Dame, tallying accolades like BIG EAST freshman of the year and multiple all-conference selections. He ended his Irish career with a ridiculous junior campaign in which he lead the BIG EAST in batting average (.389) and total bases (138). I spoke with Notre Dame hitting coach Jesse Woods about Mancini's offensive prowess, and his time in South Bend. "Trey is the complete hitter. I don't think I ever saw him get beat by the same pitch twice. It's fun to watch Trey Mancini hit."

After being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 8th round of the 2013 MLB draft, Mancini elected to forgo his senior season to start his journey through the minor leagues. Since then, he has won his league's double-A batting title, been named the Orioles' minor leaguer of the month, and moved through the ranks faster than any current Notre Dame minor leaguer, including 2013 Yankees first round pick Eric Jagielo, and Giants 5th rounder Dan Slania. Mancini was called up to the Norfolk Tides, Baltimore's triple-A affiliate, in late April.

The Orioles Player Development department has named @NorfolkTides INF Trey Mancini as the June Minor League Player of the Month.

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) July 6, 2016

When asked about Mancini's impressive minor league career to date, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was optimistic about Trey's future in the organization. "He's a good looking player" Showalter said. "I don't know what else you can ask a guy to do. I've watched a lot of tape on him. He hits the ball hard the other way, his strikeouts are way down, and he's hit a ton of doubles." Showalter later joked that he (Mancini) wasn't having quite as good a year as current Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, who has emerged in the last few seasons as one of Major League Baseball's most feared power hitters. That being said, it's hard to justify keeping a prospect performing like Mancini down in the farm system for long.

Whether it's at first base or DH, Trey will likely get his first taste of big league action before the 2016 season is over. When Trey does get the nod, he will join all-star Diamondbacks outfielder A.J. Pollock and Marlins relief pitcher David Phelps as current Irish big leaguers. It sounds like Baltimore would love to see Mancini on their 40 man roster, but as his stock continues to rise, I wouldn't be surprised to see Trey involved in a high-profile, multiplayer trade later this summer.