Baltimore Orioles first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini said his most recent blood work showed no signs of cancer and he expects to be ready for spring training.
Mancini had surgery in March to remove a malignant tumor and underwent six months of chemotherapy to treat his Stage III colon cancer.
The 28-year-old said he has been working out five days a week and doing some light hitting, adding he intends to increase his workouts as spring approaches.
“There’s no reason, right now, for me to believe that if spring training started tomorrow, I wouldn’t be ready to go because I really would,” Mancini said. “When I get there in February, I really think everybody will look at me and think that nothing happened if they didn’t know what happened.”
He told reporters he has been taking his time with his preparations.
“It’s something you want to slowly progress into because I had a pretty good amount of time off, so you really want to ease into it, retrain your muscles,” he said. “I have the inkling sometimes to go in there and take swings at 100 percent right at the beginning, and you’ve got to remember you’re not totally conditioned for that.”
He said he also plans to continue his advocacy for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. On Tuesday, the Orioles announced an $80,000 donation from the sale of T-shirts supporting the cause.
The Orioles will welcome his bat back in the lineup. The team had a 25-35 record on the abbreviated season and a batting average of .258.
Mancini was the Orioles’ most productive player in 2019. He batted .291 with 175 hits, including 38 doubles and 35 home runs, and 97 RBIs in 154 games.
The Orioles selected Mancini, a Florida native, in the eighth round of the 2013 draft. After a brief call-up in 2016, he became a fixture with the club in 2017. He has a career batting average of .276 in 462 games with 86 home runs and 238 RBIs.
