Fredi González to be Orioles’ bench coach
The Orioles on Tuesday formally announced manager Brandon Hyde’s 2022 coaching staff, which includes a formal bench coach for the first time in Hyde’s four seasons.
That role will belong to Fredi González, the former Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves manager who served as major league coach the past two seasons. Typically, a bench coach is the manager’s top assistant and will handle managerial duties if the manager is ejected or unavailable.
José Hernández, who was part of Hyde’s initial staff in 2019, will return to his initial role as major league coach after spending the past two seasons as assistant hitting coach. In the latter role, he served alongside hitting coach Don Long, who is the only member of Baltimore’s 2021 staff who won’t return. The Orioles announced last month that first-time major league coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte will be co-hitting coaches.
Tim Cossins, who joins Hernández as the longesttenured Orioles assistants, returns as major league field coordinator and catching instructor. That role previously saw him serve as Hyde’s pseudo-bench coach, managing the Orioles for a game in 2019 when Hyde attended his daughter’s high school graduation.
For the first time in his tenure with Baltimore, Chris Holt will have no changes to his title from one season to the next. Originally hired away from the Houston Astros to serve as the Orioles’ minor league pitching coordinator in 2019, Holt was director of pitching in 2020, a hybrid role that had its scope limited by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. He retained that title into 2021, adding responsibilities as Baltimore’s major league pitching coach, and he will have both titles again in 2022.
Darren Holmes’ third year with the organization will be his second as assistant pitching coach. He spent 2020 as the Orioles’ bullpen coach, and despite the title change, his in-game role remained largely focused on relievers in 2021, though he was largely involved with the entire staff.
Anthony Sanders will be Baltimore’s outfield and first base coach for a third season, with Tony Mansolino returning for his second season as infield and third base coach.
Fuller served as DoubleA Bowie’s hitting coach and the organization’s full-season hitting coordinator in 2021, overseeing a successful hitting program throughout the club’s rising farm system. Borgschulte was the Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A hitting coach before joining Baltimore. Like Fuller, he’s well versed in the modern hitting and evaluation techniques that have swept the sport.
Although the Orioles previously had two hitting coaches, this year will mark the first in which neither has an assistant title attached. A similar format was used this past season by the American League champion Astros, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, the winningest teams in the regular season.
The Orioles have tweaked the format of Hyde’s coaching staff each of the past two offseasons, first by shifting Holmes from bullpen coach to assistant pitching and now by eliminating the tiered hitting coach positions to have Fuller and Borgschulte share the title while González serves as bench coach.
Additionally, bullpen catchers Joel Polanco and Ben Carhart will return for their respective fourth and third seasons with the Orioles. Brian Ebel, largely credited throughout the organization for helping the team manage the pandemic, will be in his fifth season as the Orioles’ head athletic trainer, with Mark Shires and Patrick Wesley continuing as assistant athletic trainers. Adrian Pettaway also returns as the team’s massage therapist.
Chris Poole has been named assistant to the head athletic training after spending the past two years as a compliance officer for health and safety protocols.