Manzanero riding hot stretch for Mustangs

Pabel Manzanero spent 30 games with the Rookie-level Mustangs a year ago in his first assignment away from a complex level. His return trip is going markedly better.
The Cincinnati catching prospect belted two homers during his fourth straight three-hit game as Rookie-level Billings edged Orem, 10-8, on Monday. In the process, Manzanero boosted his average to .342, exactly 100 points higher than at the end of the 2017 season.

"It's been going a lot longer than [four] days," Mustangs hitting coach Bryan LaHair said. "This kid's been squaring balls up to all fields and having great at-bats for the last two, three months. He's been gradually progressing and his approach at the plate is really good right now."
After grounding out to short to end the first inning in his initial trip to the plate, the catcher cranked his fourth homer of the season in the third, a two-run shot to center field. Two innings later, he went yard again. Manzanero belted a leadoff blast to left-center for his first multi-homer game since June 5, 2015 with the Dominican Summer League Rojos.
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"They were bombs," LaHair said. "For me, he got into a good count, and he was able to drive one to center field, and it was a bomb. He came back with a similar approach, got to a good hitter's count and hit an absolute bomb to left-center, into the lights. He's doing a very good job with understanding how they're pitching him and making quick adjustments. That's really the key, making quick adjustments. He's understanding, slowing the game down and just squaring balls up night after night."
Manzanero kicked off the sixth inning with a double to center to extend his three-hit streak. The last four games have lifted the 22-year-old's average 56 points and boosted his OPS from .736 to .857. Manzanero has driven in seven runs in that span, over half his total of 13 entering Thursday. A year ago, he slashed .242/.279/.394 in 30 games for Billings. Monday's output put his 2018 line at .342/.366/.521 in three more games as the Mustangs' regular catcher.
"I thought that was key for him, getting that opportunity to play every day and show what he's capable of doing," the hitting coach said. "From Spring Training until now, he's been putting up quality at-bats every single day and hitting two or three balls hard every single day. He's really showing off right now. It's fun to watch.

"I think the biggest thing with him is basically we're trying to simplify the game. He's trying to have quality at-bats. He's trying to square balls up. He's not trying to pull balls or go the other way. He's trying to get good pitches and hit them hard, and it's really paying off for him."
The backstop's second homer kicked off a five-run inning that put the Mustangs in front, 10-4. The Owlz rallied for four runs between the sixth and eighth innings before going down in order in the ninth.
Orem's Kiki Menendez finished a triple short of the cycle to raise his average to .310. He scored twice.