More on Orioles' decision to keep same coaches for 2023

The conclusion of a baseball season often leads to major shakeups in coaching staffs, or at least some light jostling.

The Orioles didn’t find any reasons to make changes in 2023. They built a unit that worked for them. They weren’t going to authorize repairs if nothing broke.

Make a spirited run at the postseason and stand pat.

As I reported yesterday, Fredi González is back as bench coach, Chris Holt as pitching coach/director of pitching, Darren Holmes as assistant pitching coach, Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte as co-hitting coaches, Tim Cossins as major league field coordinator/catching instructor, Anthony Sanders as first base coach/outfield instructor, Tony Mansolino as third base coach/infield instructor, and José Hernández as major league coach.

Pitching coach Doug Brocail and third base coach José Flores were replaced by Holt and Mansolino, respectively, after the truncated 2020 season. Holt already was employed as director of pitching. Mansolino came over from Cleveland’s organization.

Hitting coach Don Long remained on the staff but was let go following the 2021 season. The Orioles joined the growing trend of dual-hitting coaches by promoting Fuller from the minors and hiring Borgschulte from the Twins’ organization.

The restructuring by the Orioles eliminated the titles of “assistant hitting coach” and “bullpen coach.” They brought back “bench coach” this season by changing González’s title.

Cossins and Hernández are the only holdovers from manager Brandon Hyde’s first staff in 2019.

I wonder how many fans remember that Arnie Beyeler was the first base coach. Time does, indeed, fly.

John Wasdin served as bullpen coach and Howie Clark was assistant hitting coach. Clark returned to Camden Yards in August while filling the same role with the White Sox.

The last repeat staffs were in 2017-18. Multiple changes were made following 2016’s wild card loss in Toronto, with pitching coach Dave Wallace, bullpen coach Dom Chiti and assistant hitting coach Mark Quinn leaving the organization. Wallace and Chiti joined the Braves in new roles, with the former retiring from coaching.

Former Orioles third base coach Bobby Dickerson, who wasn’t retained after the 2018 season, is headed to the World Series as the Phillies’ infield coach.

The Orioles are switching Cody Asche’s role from upper-level hitting coordinator in the minors to offensive strategy coach, the latest embrace of a more modernized approach to the game. His exact duties are unknown because they haven’t made an official staffing announcement.

I’ll assume that Asche won’t be in the dugout during games, but again, we’ll learn more later.

I didn’t know whether the Orioles would bring back the entire staff, only because I’ve grown accustomed to change. The first winning season since 2016 didn’t seem to warrant any tweaks, let alone an overhauling. But evaluations are made after the last out.

It would have been odd to set up co-hitting coaches and deviate from the duo after one season. Players were quite complimentary of the techniques utilized by Fuller and Borgschulte, and Anthony Santander was a model student with his career-high 33 home runs, 55 walks and .318 on-base percentage.

The pitching staff’s ERA improved from 5.84 in 2021, last in the majors, to 3.97. The bullpen ranked ninth with a 3.49 ERA. And the success stories were numerous, including Dean Kremer and Kyle Bradish now firmly in the club’s 2023 plans, Austin Voth going from D.C. disaster to productive Orioles pitcher, Tyler Wells making the smooth conversion to starter, and Félix Bautista and Cionel Pérez improving their walk rates and becoming dominant late-inning relievers.

González’s return seemed to hinge only on whether he received an offer to fill one of the managerial vacancies.

The heavy lifting by the front office will be done with the construction of the opening day roster. Nine players are eligible for arbitration. A bunch of prospects are eligible for the Rule 5 draft and must be protected.

Settling on a 2023 coaching staff was an early task that the Orioles completed without breaking a sweat.