The Orioles are parting ways with hitting coach Don Long, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Assistant hitting coach José Hernández will remain on staff but assume a different role moving forward. Kubatko adds that the rest of manager Brandon Hyde’s staff is expected to return next season, although there could be some form of reshuffling of roles.
Long has served as O’s hitting coach for the past three years, taking over in January 2019. The club posted a cumulative .246/.310/.412 line during his tenure, which checks in 24th of the league’s 30 teams by measure of wRC+. (Their .240/.305/.403 mark this season alone also ranked 24th). That’s not especially promising production, although it’s tough to judge Long from the outside based solely on results. The O’s have been amidst a rebuild for each of those seasons, giving opportunities around the diamond to unproven players.
Long oversaw a breakout 2021 campaign from Cedric Mullins, while Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle have shown enough offensive promise to be potential long-term pieces. But others like DJ Stewart and Anthony Santander either haven’t yet cemented themselves or took steps back this season. It seems Hyde and the front office have determined that a new voice is necessary as Baltimore continues to break in promising young hitters at the big league level, most notably the player widely regarded as the game’s top overall prospect Adley Rutschman.
Excepting Long, there seemingly won’t be much change on the big league staff. (Hyde himself has been expected to keep his job for a while now). However, Kubatko reports on a few more firings among the O’s minor league coaching staff, including the dismissal of Triple-A manager Gary Kendall. The Orioles are expected to offer that vacancy to Buck Britton, reports Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. Britton, the older brother of Yankees reliever Zack Britton, has coached or managed in the Baltimore system for the past five seasons.
Don Long, nice name
He’s one g away from true greatness
Don G. Long
Its actually Don T. Long. So he’s probably more a fan of girth. (Don’t Long)
Middle name isn’t Too, by chance?
Dr. Don Gerald Toolong, renowned Tommy Johnson surgeon
Lol
Fire the hitting coach for what? The team is a bunch of scrubs outside of Mancini and Mullins.. how about the GM get fired for not trading Mancini and any big piece they had to jumpstart a rebuild. This team is going nowhere fast and it starts at tbe top.
You obviously know nothing about the team. How can they trade big pieces when previous management did that and didn’t get that much back in return.
They’re been the same inept bunch of jokers for the better part of 30 years. I don’t think firing anyone who isn’t an owner is going to make a single bit of difference.
2012 to 2017 most wins of any team in baseball.
Why do some strange comments get likes? Anyway, because one top strategy didn’t work, doesn’t mean you just stop.
The prior year, a team gets bad drafts. You don’t stop drafting players. If trades turn out bad, you don’t stop trading. Am I in bizarro world.
Know nothing about the team? I know I’m the last 4 years they are 178-368. 3 of which are 100 loss seasons so I’d say I know Exactlly what I’m talking about. They are the laughing stock of baseball and have been for a long time. @tuck 2 @dwilson10
I wouldn’t call Mountcastle a scrub. And I’m not even close to an Os fan.
Mountcastle can play. Hays might be something. I agree, lots of scrubs this year, but they weren’t going to get much for Mancini honestly, and for what they would have received, it was probably better to just keep him around for the whole year, after everything he went through. He was one of the better story’s in baseball this year, and pretty much the only Orioles story. I could have seen a friendly, send him to a winner type trade, but he just doesn’t have a ton of true value. As far as “any other big piece” they could have dealt, can you name anyone that could’ve been moved and brought back a realistic piece to “jumpstart” this rebuild? They just didn’t have the pieces to move. In theory, I agree that they’ve been badly run, but the GM hasn’t been there a super long time, and they are starting to gather a few interesting pieces, Adley, Mount, Mullins, etc. They don’t have tons of money on the books, so they could spend some, but it might be tough to sell the top FA. Not an O’s fan, just don’t think firing the GM will help this team right now.
Maybe firing Long had nothing to do with the on-field product. Maybe it was a issue with coaching style, personality clashes, or approach to hitting. Maybe they want a Driveline guy in there, or a former Houston coach.
You definitely do not know anything about the Orioles. They have several young players like Mountcastle,Hayes,Mullins,and Means. They also found them a decent closer in Wells and Sulser. They definitely need some starting pitching, second baseman, and a third baseman. The catching is not that bad with Severino and Adley.
I know they suck & they’ll continue to suck long after Long. Ahahahaha!
I know enough about the Orioles that yes while they have a few pieces and prospects the entire organization needs an overhaul and it’s not even close.. they looked every bit of a triple a team which is mainly what they were. You basically just said they def need half of the team so yeh. To my point again the organization as a whole needs to be overhauled.
I think that’s the wrong D.J. Stewart linked in the article.
Thanks for the heads up!
Mets should hire him.
Donny longballs
Well , why not? The O’s are a mess. Fans have to realize that if Adley and G-Rod were both up this year, and became ROYs at their positions, they still would have lost 95 games.
Yes, they have the #1 system, but that’s based on the top 2 prospects; there isn’t much depth behind them. It’s not unlike the current roster; as Eckersely said, the top 4 in the lineup is good; very good in fact. It’s the back end that’s absolutely horrid. And the #1 pitcher might be a #3 on a contender.
There’s a long long way to go….and absolutely NO indication that once some talent starts to bubble up, some of the existing talent (Boom Boom, Mullins, Hays et al) won’t be gone.
Perfect situation for a new owner, actually.
The system is pretty deep with positional talent. DL Hall is the only other arm with that kind of TOR upside. But guys like Stowers, Cowser, Henderson, westburg, etc. have legitimate shots at being quality regulars.
That’s not nothing…But the ML team is a mess. There’s no pitching to speak of and I don’t think there’s enough in the minors to make up for it.
They would have lost more than 95. Two rookies weren’t making up 15 games.
You know the Orioles watch the clock. Mancini becomes a free agent in 2023, so he’s probably gone this coming July and had he not had cancer, would have been traded within the past year. Mullins (2026) and Mountcastle (2027) will be gone in a trade for “prospects” a year or so before they’re up.
Besides Manny Machado, when was the last time that a home-grown player lived up to the hype for the Orioles and not after they were traded? Mike Mussina? That was 30 years ago and the Orioles were hyping Ben McDonald much more than Mussina.
Something’s rotten at the core and it doesn’t matter how great the system is rated or how good the prospects are in the minors. Nothing against the current set of highly rated prospects, but I have to see proof – especially the pitching prospects – before I believe it.
Your concern is legit. Mike Elias seems obsessed with soft tossing LHP, who can. with limited exposure, look very effective. But additional innings tend to take the bloom off the rose; see Yarborough, Ryan. MOST of them turn into “meh” at best, and ya, there are the Jamie Moyer-s out there, but they’re few and far between.
Too many LH bats, most with questionable fielding prowess. Again, the top 2 are really great; Adley’s low-estimate (“floor”) is Matt Wieters, and Matt Wieters was an under-appreciated player. The ceiling? HOFer. And G-Rod is really, really good.
Beyond that? Dunno.
Wait? The Orioles have a hitting coach?
Had, apparently.
Donny looks like he is 90 in that photo. Chris Davis getting the job.
He looks 90 because he had to try to fix Chris Davis to begin with.
I blame him for the 108 losses…….
Jose Hernandez is a hitting coach? There’s a joke there somewhere.
So some of the future possible stars show promise yet they replace hitting coach. So stupid
So long Don Long
Maybe Crush Davis can be the new hitting coach?
Under the theory that who can’t do end up teaching?
He would have to budget for an ample supply of needles…
Since Mike Trout can never stay healthy, he should transition to a hitting coach for the O’s. Imagine a team full of Mike Trout’s?
I’m not sure you’re aware how generational talent works.
Nowadays, anyone can be a generational talent if you work at it.
I’m not sure you’re aware of how sarcasm works.
Oh, so you’re not a Mike Trout fan. Too bad.
This thread had sarcasm in response to sarcasm with a question about one’s understanding of sarcasm……
Mind blown (exploding sound I just made out loud for some reason – Or maybe it was the chilly after all)
Their offense was the only thing that improved. Defense and pitching took a step backwards.
He was the issue. Everything will be fine now.
Problem was,
Don always had the players focused on hitting the LONG ball !!
Known in baseball circles as “Long Dong”
In similar news, we hired a gardener but only gave him a handful of seeds and zero fertilizer and only let him use minimal water. The yard looks awful, so we’re letting him go.
Sourbob – they actually said “fertilizer is too expensive, try some salt.”
Glad the O’s kept the pitching coach he did an awesome job