O's hitting coach Cody Asche on team's hitting staff and more

The Orioles, as they did during the 2024 season, will have three hitting coaches working with their position players again in the 2025 year.

This time around, Cody Asche returns to the staff as primary hitting coach. The assistant hitting coaches are Sherman Johnson and Tommy Joseph. Johnson will also serve as upper level hitting coordinator.

Johnson, 34, spent last season as the O’s minor league upper-level hitting coordinator. He was the hitting coach at Triple-A Norfolk in 2023, his first professional coaching position after a nine-year playing career.

Joseph, 33, completed his first season as an MLB coach in 2024 as the assistant hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners. He joined the Mariners after three seasons as a minor league hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants with High-A Eugene in 2023 and with the New York Mets for Double-A Binghamton in 2022 and Single-A St. Lucie in 2021. Joseph appeared in 249 MLB games with the Phillies from 2016-17.

Asche, 34, spent the last two years as the O's offensive strategy coach. He served as the organization’s upper-level hitting coordinator in 2022. He was also a guest on a recent addition of the “Hot Stove” radio show on WBAL Radio.

He talked on a few topics.

Asche on how the dynamic will work this coming season among the three hitting coaches?: “I expect it to work similarly (to last year). Tommy and Sherman are both people that I hold a very high amount of respect for. I trust them very, very much. Sherman obviously has a ton of familiarity with the organization and our players, so that transition will be smooth. Bringing in Tommy, he’s got the personality to fit right in with our crew. The players are going to love him.

“But I think at the end of the day we all have this mindset, that our No. 1 goal and the people that we are accountable to is the players. And their careers. So, with that mindset, it just helps everything transition very smoothly.

“It’s unfortunate we lost (Ryan) Fuller and Borgs (Matt Borgschulte), those are two very good hitting coaches and two close friends of mine. Going to miss them. But at the end of the day, I think we’ve assembled a really good hitting staff that our players are going to love. We’re going to work hard for them, and they’ll feel that from us and they’ll work hard for us.”

Late last year, Jackson Holliday dropped his high leg kick and went 4-for-5 in the O’s last two regular season games. Will Holliday keep hitting this way, using just a toe tap?: “That is something that Jackson really took to. Something he has worked on this offseason and is continuing with. Yeah, I think it just gave him a better chance to have success. You’ve seen it in his quotes – he felt like he could swing when he wanted to swing. That’s just so important as a hitter, to just kind of be out of your own way.

“You know, whether the leg kick comes back at some point in time – when maybe he’s a little bit bigger and more physical and stronger and knows the league better and knows how he’ll handle shapes and velocity – maybe it does.

“But I think right now it’s a good avenue for Jackson’s innate, elite skill-set to come out. Which is, putting the bat to the ball, making elite swing decisions, getting on base, stealing bases, hitting for doubles, triples, the occasional slug and playing really good defense. So, if we can get those skills to flourish and you put him alongside some of our other superstars, that’s a pretty good lineup we’ve got.”

Asche was asked, what is the next gear for Colton Cowser on offense?: “I think the sky is the limit for that kid, honestly. We actually just met a couple of days ago to talk about his offseason. One thing I mentioned to him that I was really proud of him for doing, is learning and adjusting through the season.

“We kind of looked at the month-by-month breakdown and just kind of showed the three phases of how his season went. He came out and crushed the league and they adjusted to him. He had some downturns. He readjusted and was crushing the league again and they kind of readjusted and then he readjusted. So, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and he’s gonna OPS .780 for the whole season from at-bat one through at-bat 500.

“I think it was real important to tell him to understand – that’s how good seasons and good careers are made. Every really good hitter goes through that stuff on a yearly basis. For him to learn that during his first full season shows the aptitude that he has.

“You couple that with really keen instincts of the game – defensively, baserunning – it’s kind of the whole package. You saw that play in Houston where he beats the ball out, just the effort he gives on a daily basis. I have just been such a big fan and believer of that kid since I watched him in the minor leagues. And just really thankful I had a front row seat for a really, really good rookie season."