Word travels fast in baseball circles, and Trey Mancini’s former teammates were excited to learn Monday that he finally made it back to the majors with the Angels.

They found out later that Mancini celebrated his return by collecting three hits, starting with an RBI single into left field off Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti in his first at-bat.

The line drive was clocked at 100.9 mph, similar to the excitement emanating from people closest to him.

Mancini was one of the most popular players in franchise history and an inspiration as he fought and beat Stage 3 colon cancer in 2020. The former eighth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame appeared in 701 games with the Orioles before going to the Astros in a three-team deadline trade that riled fans in 2022.

The Cubs signed Mancini to a two-year, $14 million contract but designated him for assignment in August 2023. He sat out the 2024 season and considered retirement or maybe playing in Japan after the Marlins released him in spring training. He hit .308/.373/.522 with 16 doubles, 16 home runs and 62 RBIs in 74 games with Triple-A Reno in the Diamondbacks’ system in 2025, but he didn’t get the call.

Mancini’s career appeared to be over until the Angels hired former Orioles outfielder and front office executive Brady Anderson as hitting coach. Anderson convinced Mancini to sign a minor league deal and give baseball one more shot, and his friend responded by batting .273/.377/.464 in 52 games with Triple-A Salt Lake.

It took 1,043 days for Mancini, 34, to put on a major league uniform again. He called it “pretty surreal.”

Others have their own feelings.

“It’s incredibly special, obviously,” said reliever Tyler Wells, who broke into the majors as a Rule 5 selection in 2021. “We know Trey’s story, we know the kind of person that Trey is, the kind of person that he’s always been to the organization. But also me as a rookie, getting to play with him and just the relationship that I built with him, it’s really special.

“I couldn’t be more happy for the guy, going through even more adversity after the whole cancer thing. Three years till you get your next at-bat. I mean, that was pretty special. So I’m unbelievably happy for him and I hope that he can stay up there the rest of the year and just show everyone what he’s actually capable of, because it’s a lot of special things.”

Reliever Keeegan Akin is in his seventh season with the Orioles. He returned to his locker yesterday after talking about Mancini with assistant athletic trainer Patrick Wesley when a reporter approached him about the first baseman’s promotion.

“Everything that he went through here with the illness and stuff, he’s got it in him. He’s a fighter. I think that just kind of shows the kind of character he has,” Akin said.

“Just kind of tells you how hard he works, how determined it is. He wanted to get back and he finally got the chance and he took advantage of it.”

Asked whether Mancini was one of his favorite teammates, Akin said, “Yeah, absolutely. Not even a question, really.

“Just a great human being all around. So it was definitely very easy to root for somebody like that.”

Blaze Alexander was a Reno teammate for about a month. He checked Mancini’s stats from Monday night’s game on his social media account.

“Honestly couldn’t happen to a better guy,” Alexander said.

“I spent a little time with him in Triple-A and just, one, an unbelievable guy, and two, an unbelievable teammate. He was literally willing to talk about anything, experiences. It’s kind of crazy, eight years, however long he spent in the big leagues, and just to have that guy in the Triple-A locker room. It could have been different, you know? Salty about not being up in the big leagues. And he wasn’t. He was the same guy every day, and yeah man, I’m always rooting for that guy.”

Alexander talked to Mancini a little bit about the cancer diagnosis and he remembers seeing the stories on ESPN and other outlets.

“I know how much he means to Orioles fans and some of the guys in this locker room,” Alexander said. “I even brought that up, like, ‘Hey, I played with Trey,’ and they were just like, ‘That’s one of our favorite teammates here, fan favorite.’ Just an unbelievable guy.”

*Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-5 last night in a 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Mariners. His average is down to .220 with a .693 OPS.

Henderson lined to center field in the first inning after Taylor Ward’s leadoff single. He struck out to end the second inning after Tyler O’Neill walked and Sam Huff doubled.

Coby Mayo homered with one out in the ninth, and the Orioles tied the game when Jeremiah Jackson reached on an infield single, O’Neill drove a ground-rule double to right field and Jackson scored on Samuel Basallo’s roller up the first base line.

Ward walked to load the bases, but O’Neill was out at the plate on Henderson’s chopper to third.

“This game is really hard, and Gunnar is working through a lot,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “He’s one of those players where, he’s such a dynamic impact player where, it’s gonna click for him. He’s had good at-bats and just hasn’t gotten the results that he wanted. And he’s a main piece in what we do. And I know everyone’s enamored with results, and rightfully so, and so is Gunnar, but he will get those results.”

*Alexander has replayed Monday’s baserunning decision in his head and wishes he could change the outcome.

Julio Rodríguez caught Basallo’s 381-foot fly ball to center field in the eighth inning and unleashed a throw that nabbed Alexander at second base before Jackson Holliday touched home plate with a run that would have reduced the Mariners’ lead to 6-4.

Seattle challenged the call and Alexander was ruled to have been tagged before Holliday foot came down on the plate. Albernaz said he spoke with Alexander the next inning.

“I love the aggressiveness, but like I told Blaze, and him being an infielder, he knows the cutoff and how it gets aligned and configured, and first base is vacant by position, so there’s no one at first,” Albernaz said. “So him tagging up and then running is the right play, but he has the ability to read the throw, and you can stop and just walk back to first, and that’s what we talked about.”

Alexander shared his thoughts on the play yesterday afternoon after having more time to reflect on it.

“Initially off the bat I was just thinking how to advance, really,” he said. “It’s a deep fly ball and Julio made an unbelievable throw. No doubt, I should have read that more. I was running head down, full speed into second. Unbelievable throw. Unfortunately, I kind of messed some things up. Easy sac fly there. I could have stayed on first base, bring the tying run at the plate, possible homer to tie it. But yeah, I mean, obviously looking back now, I wish I read that play a little better.”

Rodriguez’s throw was clocked at 96.2 mph. A lesser arm probably doesn’t get Alexander.

“I read some of the stats,” Alexander said. “I think I was running like 29 feet per second, so I felt like I had a really good jump on it. It was a whole lot better throw. And again, I could have probably read that situation a little better and possibly froze, got back to first, even a rundown. Yeah, I want that one back definitely.”