BALTIMORE — Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini feels fortunate to have undergone colon cancer surgery before doctors became absorbed in treating COVID-19, and now he’s diligently and carefully working to avoid the virus while receiving chemotherapy.

Mancini was diagnosed with colon cancer on March 6 and had surgery six days later.

“With COVID really emerging kind of at the same time, I was lucky l got in when I did because they stopped doing a lot of surgeries the week after that,” Mancini said Wednesday in a teleconference with the Baltimore media.

The same day he had the malignant tumor removed, Major League Baseball suspended spring training and announced the delay of the regular season.

“That happened in the middle of my surgery, and I woke up and my mom and sisters told me they had shut down spring training,” Mancini said.

The 28-year-old said he will probably miss the 2020 season, but added, “I have no doubt in my mind I’ll be back playing baseball.”