Fresh off missing a season because of colon cancer, Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini has been quite the story. Entering Tuesday, the former Notre Dame standout has 21 home runs and 66 RBIs to go with a slash line of .262/.328/.452 over 128 games. Playing nearly every game for the worst team in baseball given his recent history is nothing short of remarkable, but it also can take a toll on the body. He missed the Orioles’ 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday, and we found out why afterwards:
Brandon Hyde said that Trey Mancini had "general soreness," and was unavailable. #Orioles
— Rich DubroffMLB (@RichDubroffMLB) September 6, 2021
Soon after, former major-league relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth took to Twitter to go after the idea of general soreness. Though he didn’t specifically name Mancini, it was easy to figure out which player he most likely was referring to:
So I just saw that a MLB player didn’t play today because of general soreness. Are you kidding me. It’s September. Everyone is sore. If you can’t play through soreness, you shouldn’t be playing the sport. SMH!
— Kyle Farnsworth (@24_7Farnsworth) September 6, 2021
Twitter immediately went after Farnsworth. The statement itself was bad, but the player he appeared to be going after made it look even worse. The backlash became so intense that Farnsworth decided to try and clarify what he meant in a follow-up tweet Tuesday. However, he didn’t issue any apologies:
Let me clarify a tweet I posted yesterday. It was not directed toward Trey. His name was not mentioned in it. Cancer was not mentioned in it. It was directed to towards players who can’t play through soreness. There may be a fan that comes to see you play that day. And you arent
— Kyle Farnsworth (@24_7Farnsworth) September 7, 2021
It’s a shame that Mancini’s story has come back into the limelight for the wrong reasons. Everyone knew it by the time he finished as the runner-up in this year’s Home Run Derby. He shouldn’t have to be defended for playing a season like his on his own terms, especially when he’s been excelling, but here we are. Hopefully, the final month of his season can be peaceful from here on.