hit the ball a little more out front and that gives me better trajectory, especially to the opposite field,” Mancini said. “It helped me tremendously. I would say my power numbers have definitely improved right after that.”

Anderson could tell Mancini was able to hit. He just needed a little guidance.

“I’ve been teaching guys for a long time, so you have to be really intuitive with your movement,” Anderson said. “It was about strengthening him up, lengthening his swing. You hear that word and people are like, ‘Lengthening his swing? But how do you create bat speed without distance?’ So it was just some basics that didn’t take very long. Hitters are meant to hit like that. They’ve already reached this professional hitter status.

They’re already good.”

Mancini had a breakout 2015 season, hitting .341/.375/.563 between High-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, winning the Eastern League batting title. He also found his power that year, hitting a career-high 21 homers and adding 43 doubles.

After another solid season last year, in which he hit 20 homers in 142 games, most of it spent at Triple-A Norfolk, Mancini received a memorable late-season taste of the majors as a September call-up. His first major league hit was a home run, and Mancini homered in each of his first three starts. He played in only five games, but made the most of them, going 5-for-14.

“It was the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had,” Mancini said.

“But it gives me a lot of confidence coming into this year compared to lastyear.Being aguywhowascoming in here last year having been in Double-A the year before as an invitee, I was maybe a little overwhelmed before last year. It definitely gave me confidence.”

Though it was a small sample size, Mancini’s debut served as a springboard into this season and cemented his place as the Orioles’ most major league-ready prospect.

Roster crunch Mancini’s path at first base is blocked by Chris Davis, who signed a club-record seven-year, $161 million deal in January 2016, but he projected to get regular at-bats as the Orioles’ designated hitter against left-handed pitching. When the team re-signed Mark Trumbo to a three-year, $37.5 million deal this offseason to mainly serve as the DH, Mancini’s future on this year’s club became more unclear.

Add in a glut of outfielders, and Mancini looks like the victim of an Opening Day roster crunch.

“You don’t make too much of it, but it doesn’t hurt to know that there are maybe one or two spots and that’s it,” he said. “But I’m working hard every day to try to be that guy who gets it.”

Realizing he would have to fight for a roster spot this season, Mancini — a Winter Haven native who attended Notre Dame — moved to Nashville, Tenn., for the offseason to work out at Vanderbilt. For a second straight offseason, he went to Southern California to work out with Anderson for a week.

Mancini’s play this spring will help determine whether he opens the year in Baltimore or in the minors.

“We’regoingtotrytodowhat’s best for the Baltimore Orioles, but what’s best for Trey Mancini is what’s best for us,” manager Buck Showalter said.

“He’s got a chance to make this club.

Does he have anything else to [learn] in Triple-A? Sure. We all do. He could benefitfromthat,buthe’sgotachance to make our club. I don’t know what else aguy can do to warrant alook and get a chance.”

Where it began It’s not difficult to see Mancini’s strong pedigree. His draft stock dropped because a shoulder injury forced him to miss playing in the Cape Cod League before his junior year. He then sputtered early in his junior season at Notre Dame before coming on strong in the second half.He ended up leading the Big East in hitting, and when the Orioles drafted him in the eighth round in 2013, Mancini — realizing how a player’s draft stock can fluctuate — decided to turn pro.

“A lot of people don’t realize that he was one of the best players in the country,” said Pat Connaughton, a former baseball teammate of Mancini’s at Notre Dame who was also drafted by the Orioles but is playing in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers. “… I kind of expected this from him, and all the things that he’s doing are the things he’s capable of. I think that if and when he gets a consistent opportunity, he should keep getting that confidence.”

The next step Anderson said the numbers Mancini has put up in the minors show he’s a major league hitter, noting that there are great players — Orioles star third baseman Manny Machado was a .269 hitter in the minors, for example — who didn’t have that kind of success in the minors.

“I think he’s been prepared for years,” Anderson said. “You look at the year he had two years ago. … There’s always more you can learn [in the minors]. The at-bats help, especially if you’re having quality at-bats. ... But in my opinion, he’s a major league hitter right now, and has been for years.”

Mancini realizes his performance this spring will determine where he starts this season.

“You can’t get too high on anything you do,” Mancini said. “No matter what you do, you come back the next year and it’s a clean slate. You’ve got to keep going out and performing year after year. I know that what I’ve done uptothispointisgreat, butatthesame time it’s not good enoughto justlet me kind of waltz onto the team.

“I’ve got to keep working hard. I know I’ve still got a lot to improve in that regard, and I’m still trying to do that.” eencina@baltsun.com twitter.com/EddieInTheYard