Tuesday Bird Droppings: The Orioles coaching staff is staying intact

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Thanks to a pair of unexpectedly short League Championship Series — with the Astros hilariously sweeping the Yankees, and the Phillies taking four of five from the Padres — last night began a stretch of four straight days without postseason action until the World Series begins on Friday. So now’s a good time to catch up on all your TV shows.

There was some baseball news coming out of Birdland, though. As first reported by MASN’s Roch Kubatko, the Orioles are expected to bring back their entire major league coaching staff for the 2023 season (plus former big leaguer Cody Asche as offensive strategy coach), led, of course, by manager Brandon Hyde, who will enter his fifth season at the helm.

Hyde’s status, of course, was never in doubt. He’s the frontrunner for the AL Manager of the Year award for leading the Orioles to a winning record after many pundits predicted that they’d lose 100 or more games. Despite internet trolls who call for Hyde’s firing whenever the O’s dare lose a game — people who are wrong and who should be laughed at — he’s clearly secured his spot as the man to lead the Orioles’ return to contention.

It is somewhat unusual, though, for an entire coaching staff to remain intact from one year to the next. This is the first time it’s happened during the Mike Elias era. Of the eight coaches on Hyde’s original staff in 2019, only two — Tim Cossins and Jose Hernandez — remain with the club. The O’s made three coaching changes before the 2020 season, hiring Anthony Sanders, Darren Holmes, and Fredi Gonzalez (replacing Arnie Beyeler, John Wasdin, and Howie Clark). They made two more changes prior to 2021, bringing in Chris Holt and Tony Mansolino to replace Doug Brocail and Jose Flores. And in 2022 they added Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller as co-hitting coaches, replacing Don Long.

The complete 2022 staff included Borgschulte, Fuller, Holt (pitching coach), Holmes (assistant pitching coach), Gonzalez (bench coach), Sanders (first base coach), Mansolino (third base coach), Hernandez (major league coach), and Cossins (major league field coordinator/catching instructor). They’re all coming back, though it remains to be seen if any will see their job titles or responsibilities tweaked.

I say, why not? It’s hard for us outside observers to gauge exactly how effective or ineffective a particular coach is, but the results seem to speak for themselves. The O’s excelled more than anyone thought possible in 2022, so let’s bring the whole gang back next year and see what happens.

Links

Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson sets sights on Rookie of the Year - The Baltimore Sun
Adley Rutschman’s early-season injury robbed the O’s of their best chance to snap their 33-year Rookie of the Year drought. But Gunnar might just be the man to do it next year.

After he munched on innings and did more, O’s have decision to make on Lyles - Steve Melewski
What say you, Camden Chatters? Is Jordan Lyles’ mentorship and innings-eating ability worth the O’s picking up his $11 million option, or should they try to find a better use for that money? I’m glad I’m not the one who has to make that call.

The case for the Orioles’ Jorge Mateo as a Gold Glove shortstop - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Sadly the ship has sailed on this one, as the AL managers and coaches who vote on the Gold Glove awards were apparently asleep every time they played against the Orioles. But Rich Dubroff explains why Mateo should have been a top-three finalist at the very least.

Orioles birthdays

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two former Orioles were born on Oct. 25: outfielder Tito Landrum (68), who had two stints with the Birds in 1983 and 1988, and the late outfielder Bobby Thomson (b. 1923, d. 2010). Thomson was best known for hitting “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” to win the NL pennant for the Giants in 1951, but he finished his career by playing three games for the Orioles in 1960, going 0-for-6.