BOSTON, MA – APRIL 2: Manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox is introduced before the 2021 Opening Day game against the Baltimore Orioles on April 2, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Alex Cora has already made it clear there is only one favorite this year for the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
The Boston Red Sox are looking to avoid a sweep Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles. Every opening series has its storylines, but this one may have the best in all of baseball.
Trey Mancini is back in the Orioles lineup after missing all of 2020 once he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. That was obviously a serious diagnosis and Mancini is back after undergoing chemotherapy last year.
Beating cancer is a miracle in itself. Doing so and then playing professional baseball months later is a testament to the strength of Mancini. Red Sox manager Alex Cora has made it clear he sees Mancini as the only choice for Comeback Player of the Year.
Alex Cora knows Trey Mancini is the only logical choice
“He should be the Comeback Player of the Year regardless,” Cora said in an article written by Christopher Smith of MassLive. “He can hit .330 or .180. He is the Comeback Player of the Year already.”
Cora added that Mancini looks like his old self and that it is simply great to see him back on the field again. Mancini’s story is one that all MLB fans can rally behind in 2021.
MLB has officially handed out a Comeback Player of the Year Award in both leagues since 2005. A player returning from injury usually takes home the honor. But Mancini is the clear favorite regardless of how he plays. And if he has an All-Star season? Then it will not even be a discussion.