The Orioles are parting ways with three coaches, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com on X. Co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, bench coach Fredi González and major league coach José Hernández will not return to the club in 2025.
Fuller, 34, was an internal promotion. He was hired by the O’s in 2019, working as a minor league hitting coordinator. Going into the 2022 season, Fuller and Matt Borgschulte were announced as co-hitting coaches, with Borgschulte coming over from the Twins.
The results have been pretty good under those two, though this year ended on a bit of a sour note. The Orioles hit .255/.321/.421 for a 105 wRC+ last year, 12th-best in the league. They were actually better in 2024, slashing .250/.315/.435 for a 115 wRC+ which trailed only the Dodgers and Yankees.
But that season-long performance came despite a mediocre finish. The O’s hit .238/.307 /.395 over August in September for a wRC+ of 102. They were then swept out of the playoffs by the Royals, losing two straight games in the Wild Card series while scoring just one total run between the two contests.
Separating the contributions of a coach from the performances of the players is always tough, but it seems the Orioles have decided to make a change. They haven’t made any official announcement, so perhaps Borgschulte will take on the hitting coach job by himself, though it’s also possible further reporting will emerge in the coming days to provide a clearer picture.
González has been with the O’s for the past five seasons, getting hired prior to the 2020 campaign. He was given the nebulous title of major league coach but was given the bench coach title two years after that. Prior to joining the O’s, González had worked for the Marlins and Atlanta, working coaching jobs and as manager for both clubs. Hernández played in the majors from 1991 to 2006, suiting up for nine different clubs. He joined the O’s as a minor league coach in 2010 and worked his way up to the majors for the 2019 season.
TheMan 3
Andy Haines is looking for a job
skinsfandfw
With all the injuries, the guys that were healthy were pressing at the plate. It was pretty obvious.
That said, it was also obvious that opposing teams figured out the team’s approach at the plate. Both attacking the zone, and staying out of it, at the right times to keep the Os hitters off balance and guessing.
Thats normal I’d say, but what was troubling the last two months was the lack of adjustments seen. They just stuck with it, keep being aggressive at the wrong time, and patient when they shouldn’t have been.
You’d expect these talented young hitters to develop a little faster at the ML level.
misterb71
I can’t count the number of players, coaches and analysts who never stop reminding us that baseball is all about making adjustments. Perhaps the team decided that Fuller didn’t promote the correct adjustments or any specific adjustments at all. If you’re keeping one hitting coach and letting the other leave it’s difficult to take a different message from the move.
Rsox
Baseball IS about making adjustments. Analytics is about continuing to do the same thing because the data says so and we cannot deviate from the plan.
Pads Fans
Analytics is about seeing what adjustments need to be made and knowing that before your opponents can see what you are doing.
Sadly, most people have no clue what the technology and data crunching that are part of the analytics departments of a major league team.
halloffamernobodycares
Analytics, at its core, is a way to find undervalued players so the teams with smaller payrolls can compete with the larger payrolled teams. Once everyone started using analytics, now it’s the norm and here we are with payrolls again. Until teams start realizing drafting and promoting from within is also part of the equation, no amount of number crunching is going to right the ship. The Giants just fired an analytics guy because of it. Any other reason to use analytics is just an offshoot of the original idea.
gr81t2
Injuries didn’t have a big impact on the Os inability to hit with risp most of the second half. Westburg was a huge loss when he was out, but all the other guys just didn’t hit clutch.
skinsfandfw
Agreed, the clutch factor also disappeared. Could you attribute that to pressing? Not sure, but it had to have factored in.
Also, I don’t have the numbers to back this up, but they really struggled to score runners from 3rd with less than 2 outs and also advancing a runner from 2nd to 3rd with zero outs. I get it, the lineup is built around power, but when things aren’t working, you have to make adjustments. As someone who watched more than 95% of their games this year, I didn’t see much in the way of adjustments especially in the 2nd half.
It would not surprise me to see some news in the coming weeks that Adley had some sort of surgical procedure(s) done. Something wasn’t right with him.
TerryTurnbuckle
But Baltimore fans assured everyone they were the next dynasty. Trouble in paradise already? Lol Orioles
CravenMoorehead
They definitely have a good young core of players. Pitching was inconsistent and they had some key injuries. 2025 is going to be a toss up for them depending on how free agency goes, obviously Burnes is going to get paid and if they lose him then they’ll have some work to do.
TheMan 3
even the mighty Yankees have lost world championships
dynasties aren’t constructed in one season.
How many times did the Patriots make it to the Super Bowl before they became a dynasty?
danumd87 2
Because they probably are. They suffered more injuries than any team in baseball this year and as a result the season was a massive disappointment. But they had 91 wins in a worst case scenario, brutally painful season. That’s a franchise in better position than 28 or so of their rivals.
NashvilleJeff
@danumd87: “They suffered more injuries than any team in baseball this year and as a result the season was a massive disappointment.” The Atlanta Braves, their IL stints, and their 89 wins say ‘Hi.”
Old York
That should fix the problems…
Very Barry
Wake me up when the headline reads “Orioles Finally Trading Away Some Kids Who Are Currently Blocked At Their Position With The Big Club”. Perhaps a bit of urgency after 42 years of no World Series?
SewaldSwansonSwoon
… stupid comment
ba9oriole
Would be great if Brady Anderson could fill one of the O’s coaching vacancies.
Pads Fans
Only if he comes with his little Drs kit filled with steroid injections.
SewaldSwansonSwoon
He got fired from the head office by Elias. Buck Frady Anderson. Roider.
LFGMets (Metsin7) #BannedForBeingABaseballExpert
Worst GM in the league, he should be canned. Did absolutly nothing at the deadline. A disgrace to the fans
Tom the ray fan
Just completely ignore the prior 5 years of the rebuild for a terrible trade deadline. Hit on more draft picks than anyone in last 5 years or so. Tore up a terrible organization from the top down and looks like theyve built a consistent winner. Hardcore recency bias but hey go mets!
SewaldSwansonSwoon
Another clown comment from a goon without a brain in his skull.
Pads Fans
How long before Fredi is hired as a special assistant in some FO?
YankeesBleacherCreature
Or take the White Sox manager job with Sizemore as bench coach.
Pads Fans
Good call
MysteryWhiteBoy13
Maybe Don Mattingly wants a new challenge
VA/NC Orioles
Not a huge surprise on the hitting coach. Fredi likely was a needed change as well since he had direct access to Hyde who forever tips his bullpen management.
Was thinking a change at infield coordinator was needed as well with Mansolino. Gunnar made way too many errors this season. Would love to see a big name, steady name come in and take over as IF coordinator in the form of JJ Hardy, Brian Roberts, etc.
It’s very possible Hyde is managing for his job this season depending on the moves the offseason yields.
Pads Fans
Someone on here said it was hitting coach guillotine month or something like that. 9-10 hitting coaches have met their demise, but only 2 managers. The guy that set the team hitting philosophy, the MLB manager, is still there, but the guy whose job it is to put that into action has been chopped. Never understood that one.
NashvilleJeff
@Pads Fan: Not sure MLB managers “set the team hitting philosophy.” Seems that analytic driven Front Offices and mil development coordinators are the voices in that area now.
Pads Fans
Just going off interviews I have read when hiring was happening for managers and in the article they mentioned that the manager sets the team philosophy from hitting to pitching to culture.
I am quite sure some GMs, like Cashman and Friedman and a few others, set the philosophy for hitting and pitching, but would have to have a manager that agrees or it would not be very successful.
MiLB coordinators have very little to do with setting philosophy for an organization. Their job is to carry out the organizational philosophy so that when called up those players they are teaching mesh with the MLB philosophy. You can certainly tell the teams that don’t do that well. White Sox would be at the top of that list.
Ranger Danger19
What does the major league coach do?
YankeesBleacherCreature
Jose Hernandez was also an interpreter.
Old York
@Ranger Danger19
No clue. We talk about all the greats of the past but none of them really had coaches until the 60s. How did those greats become so great without coaches?
Tom the ray fan
Brickma on line 1
cooperhill
Think a hitting coach needs a little more experience .