Video & Audio

Minor League Podcast: Looking at Mancini and the Norfolk Tides

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The Triple-A Norfolk Tides weren’t very good in 2016, going 62-82 and finishing last in the International League South Division.

Yet, with a solid push down the stretch, the Tides actually found themselves in a bizarre divisional race that ended with the Gwinnett Braves winning despite finishing thirteen games below .500 for the year.

Even with the poor record, the Tides did have a few bright spots, including the continued improvement of right-handed-hitting first baseman Trey Mancini, who ended up making a nice impression with the Orioles. Mancini hit three homers in 14 at-bats in his brief call-up to the big leagues.

Adam Pohl, the voice of the Double-A Bowie Baysox, discusses Mancini and several other Tides with BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dean Jones Jr., in this segment of our Minor League Baseball Podcast.

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Pohl and Jones discuss Mancini’s future with the Orioles while looking at his 2016 season. They also look into some other Norfolk Tides that may help the big-league club in 2017, including catcher Francisco Pena, starting pitcher Joe Gunkel and reliever Richard Rodriguez.

Gunkel, who was added to the Orioles’ 40-man roster this winter, is an interesting guy. He doesn’t have a power arm and had a middling year statistically at Norfolk, going 8-11 with a 4.08 ERA in 24 starts. He walked only 18 batters while striking out 94 in 141 1/3 innings – and that kind of control will get him a look in the majors at some point.

This is Pohl’s last podcast of 2016 – there will be plenty more in 2017 – and he saved the Orioles’ highest affiliate for last. Give it a listen and hear about some players who could be on the Orioles’ 25-roster at some point next year.

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Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.