Checking in with Orioles manager Brandon Hyde

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde held his virtual Winter Meetings interview this morning, providing his own update on Trey Mancini and sharing his thoughts on the spring training rotation and the losses of Renato Núñez, José Iglesias and Hanser Alberto.

He also spoke about Chris Davis' health issues over the summer and how the first baseman will be competing for at-bats in 2021.

Hyde sat in his spring training office at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. He has no idea whether players will be allowed to join him on the field in February or whether the regular season will start on time.

There's only hope, which he holds onto with a tight grip, and the mindset that he's going to conduct business as usual until informed of any changes.

So what about a roster that no longer includes Núñez (waived), Iglesias (traded) and Alberto (non-tendered)?

"We're losing some good players," Hyde said. "This is a little bit a part of where we are as an organization and where we are as a team. But I have confidence in our guys that we're going to replace them. I feel really good about the young players that we have coming through our system, as well as the guys that we already have here.

"Tough to lose Iggy and Nunie because they were a huge part of our offense and a huge part of our club, but it's a next-man-up mentality and we're going to have our young players, give them an opportunity to play, and I think we have some guys that are ready for the challenge."

Hyde will need replacements on the field and in the clubhouse, where more leadership has been lost.

"What Iggy brought last year from a veteran leadership standpoint ... he had a great season offensively, would have loved to see him play more defensively. Just his leg wasn't going to allow him to do that. But the mentorship that he brought to our young players in our clubhouse was huge. Players really liked him," Hyde said.

"Where he came from, when I saw him back in 2009 to the adult and the man he is now is special, and it was a lot of fun for me to watch. Alberto, same way, the infectious energy that he had, the way he plays the game, the way he comes to play every day. It was a pleasure to manage him the last couple years. And Nunie really with what he brought offensively, the power threat at the plate every single at-bat and the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark, take good at-bats against good pitching that we face, those are going to be big losses. But I feel confident in our front office and how they're constructing our roster.

"I feel good about the young players that are going to get more at-bats because of losing some of these guys. We're moving forward with a younger club that we're excited about, the talent level that we have guys coming through our system with."

Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer should comprise two-fifths of the rotation on opening day, though Hyde isn't ready to start confirming jobs won in December.

He'd like to have eight or nine starters in camp. The more the better in spring training.

"I thought they put themselves in position the way they threw the ball their last four or five starts in the big leagues. I thought they really threw the ball outstanding against playoff clubs," Hyde said.

"To go in against the lineups that Kremer and Akin faced on a nightly basis was really impressive with how they handled that. So they gave themselves every opportunity to win a starting job next year."

Hyde checked on Mancini again a few weeks ago and believes that the outfielder/first baseman will be full-go after completing chemotherapy treatments on Sept. 21 and ramping up his workouts and baseball activities back home in Nashville.

"He's doing great, feels great, looks great," Hyde said. "I've got video on him hitting at the facility that he works out in and he looks exactly the same, so I'm excited to have Trey be a part of a full spring training in February and can't wait to see him.

"All signs are great and he looks fantastic."

Mancini could get plenty of starts at first base despite Davis remaining on the roster.

Davis hit .409/.559/.909 (9-for-22) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and 10 walks in 12 exhibition games, but couldn't regain his stroke at summer camp or during the regular season. He went on the injured list twice with a left knee tendinitis, appeared in only 16 games and was 6-for-52 (.115) with one RBI.

"I thought he had a great spring," Hyde said. "He was off to a great start. He was in a great place, mentally, physically, taking really good at-bats, showing great leadership on the field. He was having a really good spring training and unfortunately the layoff affected a lot of people around the league. It's hard, especially for a veteran player, to re-ramp up your workout, how to do that and when to do that.

"I knew pretty early when we got back to Baltimore that his leg was bothering him a little bit and we were going to manage that. I loved the signs that we were seeing in the first spring training and I was hoping that those at-bats would then carry over into when the season started. Unfortunately, he got off to a slow start. His leg was bothering him and the right thing to do was to let it rest and to rehab it.

"Chris has had a few tough years. He's still a part of the club. He's going to come in like everybody else and try to get playing time and try to get as many at-bats as possible. I'm going to give him an opportunity. I'm going to give him a ton of at-bats in spring training and try to get him right like we've done the last couple of years. But we have younger players that are getting here also, other guys that play his position, and he's going to have to perform to get at-bats in the season."

All of this is dependent on Major League Baseball making it through another season without the pandemic forcing cancellations. On spring training camps staying open. On avoiding another 2.0 version in Baltimore.

"I'm anticipating us starting in February and they'll let me know if it's not," Hyde said. "I'm anticipating the season starting on time, I'm anticipating a season being 162 games, I want to believe that we're going to start in February, and I think the next month or two is going to tell all of us whether that's going to happen or not, but I'm going to prepare like we're starting a normal season."

Hyde is entering his third year as manager and he'll keep searching for signs that the club is headed in the right direction, with no steps taken backward. No stumbles that chip away at his optimism.

"I thought we had a lot of progress (this) year, even though it was a shortened season," Hyde said. "I did feel like we made big strides as an organization, big strides as a major league club in a lot of areas. We got some of our young players to the big leagues, especially that last half of the 60-game season you start seeing some guys who are coming through our system. That's exciting, to get some youth, guys that we like a lot, with Ryan Mountcastle, Dean Kremer, Akin, etc.

"We saw guys really continue to improve from the year before. Tony Santander, a lot of our guys in our bullpen, so I think we've just got to continue to get better. This next year is about giving more guys opportunities, continue to get our young players better and really creating a core group of players to compete in the American League East going forward."

Mountcastle will return to the middle of the order after batting .333/.386/.492 with five doubles, five home runs, 23 RBIs and 11 walks in 140 plate appearances following his promotion on Aug. 21.

"The challenge of being a young player is the league doesn't know you extremely well when you first get here, and they make adjustments to you and then it's your job to make adjustments back if you want to continue to be an impact player and be an everyday player in this league," Hyde said.

"It's not an easy thing to do. That's why I was so impressed with Santander this last year. Coming off the year he had in '19, he made some adjustments offensively and improved even more until he came down with the oblique with about 20 games to go. Ryan's going to have to do the same thing. There's a book on Ryan now, there's a lot of at-bats. But he's so athletic and he's got a really great feel to hit. I'm confident that he's going to make those adjustments. Really exciting to watch him play those last 30 games.

"Being young, athletic, learning different positions is not easy to do, so what he did was extremely impressive."

People in the industry also recognized the work Hyde did in 2020, keeping the team in contention until the final week and guiding it through so many unprecedented challenges. Tasks that wouldn't have come easily to the most experienced managers, let alone someone in his second year.

Hyde will take his share of hits in a rebuild, just as others did before him. Is he confident that he'll still be around when the Orioles complete it?

"Well, I have confidence in myself," he replied. "I think I'm in this for the long haul. I knew that when I took the job that there were going to be some bumpy roads, especially early, because I've been through a rebuilding process before, so I understand it doesn't happen overnight, it doesn't happen in a couple years. It takes a while.

"It takes a while to draft well, it takes a while to get guys through the system. So I was very, very aware when I took the job what the situation was going to be like. I felt like I was ready to manage in the big leagues in 2019, I feel even more prepared now. I think you learn every single day, try to get better. I just try to get better.

"You guys know me. Pretty low ego. I just want to improve, I want to see this through and I think it's exciting what we have here going forward."

Note: The Orioles announced their 2021 promotional schedule today, which includes bobbleheads of Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and the Oriole Bird. They also explained how to purchase the 5-Game Flex Plan.

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