Seemingly everyone likes a comeback story. A case in point came on the first day of Major League Baseball’s exhibition season last month.

The Baltimore Orioles hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Grapefruit League opener at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. Orioles first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and received a big ovation from the socially distanced crowd.

Mancini missed the entire pandemic-shortened 2020 season after undergoing surgery for colon cancer. The 29-year-old’s cancer is now in remission.

Mancini is among many players poised to make a run at Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2021.

In 2019, Mancini had the best season of his four-year career and was a bright spot for an Orioles team that lost 108 games. He hit 35 home runs and drove in 97 runs in 154 games while batting .291/.364/.535.

Mancini, who has a $4.75-million salary this year, has hit at least 24 homers in each of his three full major league seasons. The Orioles look for him to serve as the anchor in a young lineup in 2022.

And, by the way, Mancini singled in that first at-bat.

Here is a look at four other major leaguers looking to bounce back in 2021:

COREY KLUBER

The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner is attempting to get his career back on track with the New York Yankees. He signed a one-year, $11-million contract as a free agent in the offseason.

Kluber, 34, was limited to one inning last year in his lone season with Texas. He tore a shoulder muscle in his Rangers debut.

Kluber made just seven starts for the Cleveland Indians in 2019 as his season ended May 1 when he sustained a fractured right forearm when struck by a line drive off the bat of the Miami Marlins’ Brian Anderson.

The Yankees are banking on Kluber to be a key part of their rebuilt rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole and fellow newcomer Jameson Taillon, who is making his own comeback after missing last season with the Pirates while recovering from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery.

YORDAN ALVAREZ

After winning the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year award, Alvarez played in just two games with the Houston Astros last season. The designated hitter wound up having surgery on both knees.

Alvarez played a big hand in the Astros reaching the World Series in 2019 for the second time in three years. In just 87 games, he had 27 homers and 78 RBIs while hitting .313/.412/.655.

Still just 23 years old, the Astros believe Alvarez can be one of their key players for years to come. He is also still a bargain as his salary will be close to the major league minimum of $570,500 this season as he does not yet have the requisite service time to be eligible for salary arbitration.

STEPHEN STRASBURG

The Washington right-hander is one of the best pitchers in the game when he is healthy as he showed in 2019 in lifting the Nationals to the first World Series title in franchise history with his October heroics.

However, Strasburg has also had 10 stints on the injury list during his 11-year career. He made just two starts in 2020 before underdoing season-ending carpal tunnel surgery to relieve numbness in his pitching hand.

In the second year of a seven-year, $175-million contract, Strasburg has felt no ill effects from the surgery this spring. However, he has been slowed by tightness in his left calf that caused him to miss a Grapefruit League start.

MITCH HANIGER

Not much has been seen of the Haniger since the Seattle Mariners right fielder had an All-Star season in 2018.

Haniger appeared in just 63 games in 2019 then missed the entire 2020 season. Since the last time he stepped on the field in a regular season game, Haniger has had surgeries to repair a ruptured testicle, torn core muscle and ruptured disc in his back.

The rebuilding Mariners believe they are posed to take a step forward this season and are hopeful the 29-year-old Haniger can spark their offense from the leadoff spot in the batting order. He has a $3.01-million salary.