On verge of hot streak? Mancini breaks out with big homer

CHICAGO -- Trey Mancini enjoyed an ego-boosting round of batting practice on the first day back at Wrigley Field last week. The wind was blowing out and the veteran took full advantage, launching a pair of home runs off the left-field video board and sending another baseball bouncing to Waveland Ave.

Sitting in the Cubs' dugout that same afternoon, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer felt it was only a matter of time before Mancini got things rolling again within Chicago's lineup.

"A guy like Trey," Hoyer said, "all it takes is one right swing, one good at-bat."

In a 5-3 defeat to the Padres on Wednesday night, Mancini delivered a game-tying home run in the fourth inning. No, it was not enough to avoid a trip to the loss column for the North Siders, but the blast came as part of a two-hit showing for a suddenly resurgent Mancini.

Everything at this stage of the season -- whether a hot streak or cold spell -- warrants the small-sample disclaimer being applied. That said, an early-April funk can play with a player's psyche, especially someone trying to make a good impression on a new fan base like Mancini.

Through his first 14 games this season, Mancini was hitting at a .196 clip with a .470 OPS. That included an 0-for-16 drought leading into the current homestand.

"I've been doing this for a long time," Mancini said. "I've started like this a lot of times in my career. It was tough -- don't get me wrong. But at the same time, you realize you're only 20 games in. It's not an ideal start, but there's a lot of baseball left to be played and you can't do anything about what's already happened."

Cubs manager David Ross certainly tried to do his part.

When the Cubs traveled to Oakland on the last road trip, Ross gave the 33-year-old Mancini two days off to allow the first baseman a mental break. After slotting Mancini in as the Nos. 4-5 hitter for most games in the first couple of weeks, Ross recently dropped him to seventh or eighth in an effort to ease some pressure.

Against San Diego on Wednesday, Mancini returned to the fifth slot. Following a two-out single by Seiya Suzuki in the fourth, Mancini turned on a 1-2 changeup from righty Michael Wacha. The pitch veered inside, Mancini got his barrel to the pitch and San Diego's 2-0 lead was erased.

"He looks really good -- has for a couple days now," Ross said. "Obviously today it was a really big home run to get us back in there, tie it up. We go ahead there by one -- just can't really close the deal.

"But I like where Trey's at. He's worked really hard. He's in a really good space. I think everybody's going to go through some ups and downs throughout the season."

Over his past six games, which covers the current homestand against the Dodgers and Padres, Mancini has slashed .421/.500/.789 with two home runs, one double and three walks. The first baseman said he has been trying to center his focus more on the process than the results -- a mental switch he needed to flip.

"It's having a plan and sticking to it," he said. "That's what the hitting coaches and I have been talking about. Rather than trying to cover every pitch in every count. That leads to a lot of chase, swing and miss. So, it's basically more just judging the success of the at-bat on how well I committed to the plan and stay with it, rather than just the end result."

Mancini said it has helped that the Cubs have had strong starts this season from the likes of Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ, Patrick Wisdom, Cody Bellinger and Suzuki. That has helped him feel like he has had a runway to get back into a rhythm in the batter's box.

He also agreed that a brief break like the one Ross provided in Oakland can help a hitter refocus.

"Yeah, it can," Mancini said, "to just kind of take a load off and just observe the games being played. It's hard. I've never been great at that, but you have to use it to your advantage as best you can and try to reset yourself."

For the time being, hitting that reset button has worked for Mancini.

"It's nice to see Trey get hot," Cubs lefty Drew Smyly said. "He's been a really good hitter for a really long time. And we've got a lot of those type of guys in our lineup."