Eight MLB hitters who racked up home runs despite many ground balls

Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles

Homers: 24

Ground-Ball Rate: 54.6%

Fly-Ball Rate: 26.5%

There weren’t many bright spots for the Orioles this year — it’s just about impossible during a 47-115 season — but I suppose Trey Mancini kind of qualifies as one?

It’s not as if his .242/.299/.416 triple slash, 93 wRC+, and -0.2 fWAR jump off the page in a good way (especially since it’s a step back from his overall 2017 numbers), but at least he didn’t completely fall off the Earth. He notched 24 dingers for the second consecutive year, but it took 50 more plate appearances to get it accomplished.

When we pair that with his ground-ball rate, fly-ball rate, soft-hit rate, and hard-hit rate all going in the wrong direction, it was certainly a trying year for the 26-year-old. The season started well for Mancini, who posted a 109 wRC+ through the end of April, but that was followed by a 72 wRC+ (and a .208/.281/.348 line) over his next 292 plate appearances between May and July before getting back over the century mark in August (131 wRC+).