Skipper Brandon Hyde talks about his new bench coach, Robinson Chirinos

When the Orioles recently announced their coaching staff for the 2025 season, one of the new hires was Robinson Chirinos, who will be the team’s bench coach.

That is quite the entry into the coaching ranks for Chirinos, 40, whose last season playing in the majors was in 2022 for the Orioles.

He played in 67 games for that O’s team, and in 220 plate appearances he hit .179/.265/.287/.552. Those numbers don’t come close to telling the real story of his year. He was a major presence in the O’s clubhouse, cited often by manager Brandon Hyde as a clubhouse difference-maker for an O’s club that went from 52 wins in 2021 to 83 that season.

He helped teach the Orioles how to win.

That was the team’s first winning season since 2016, and the 31-win gain was the O’s largest in a single season since 1989, when they made a 33-game improvement from their 54–107 record in 1988.

Chirinos played with a lot of the current Orioles and you get the feeling this hire had less to do with brainstorming strategy with the manager and much more to do with a coach’s impact with the players within the Baltimore clubhouse.

During the debut O's “Hot Stove Radio show” on WBAL Radio, Hyde talked about the coaching addition of Chirinos.

“I talked a lot about Robbie the last couple of years because I got so many questions about our culture change and kind of what happened in 2022," Hyde said. "To go from this team that was in the bottom of a rebuild with pretty much a re-do in every type of situation to then three years later be competitive and over .500.

“I’ve said it a lot, but Robbie had huge impact on our clubhouse, huge impact on our players. Changed the mindset of our guys the second half of 2022. Just because of the way he is. He is an incredible speaker with the players. He is really likable and knows the game extremely well.”

Chirinos had an 11-year big league career that began in 2011 with Tampa Bay and ended in 2022 with the Orioles. He batted .226/.319/.419 with 114 doubles, five triples, 95 home runs, 275 runs scored, and 306 RBIs in 714 career games. He played with the Tampa Bay Rays (2011), Texas Rangers (2013-18, 2020), Houston Astros (2019), New York Mets (2020), Chicago Cubs (2021) and Orioles (2022). From 2013-19, he was the sixth-most valuable primary catcher in the majors, with a 13.0 bWAR.

“He’s going to be a big-time asset for me,” Hyde said. “He’s going to be a culture-builder, continuer. You know, he’s got an infectious personality. He knows the game extremely well. He’s caught a lot of our pitchers, so there is a relationship there from both sides of the ball.

“Me and Robbie have stayed in touch the last few years, ever since we were together. I’ve stayed in touch fairly regularly and I’m real excited for him to join our staff.”