The Orioles plan to name Cody Asche hitting coach, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (X links). Kubatko also reported earlier today that Baltimore was hiring Tommy Joseph away from the Mariners as an assistant hitting coach.
Baltimore parted ways with former hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte at the end of the season. Borgschulte landed with the Twins as their top hitting instructor last month. Kubatko reports (on X) today that Fuller is headed to the White Sox as director of hitting.
Asche will take a larger role in their stead. The O’s hired the former big league third baseman/outfielder as offensive strategy coach during the 2022-23 offseason. Asche had something of a de facto third hitting coach job in that capacity for two years. The O’s now seem content to turn the lead job over to the 34-year-old.
Most of Asche’s five-year playing career came as a member of the Phillies. The left-handed hitter played in Philadelphia between 2013-16. The final of those seasons overlapped with Joseph, a former first baseman who played 249 games for the Phils between 2016-17. Joseph made the transition to coaching in 2021. He spent a trio of seasons working with minor league hitters before joining Seattle’s staff as an assistant hitting coach. The Mariners shook up their hitting staff a couple times last season but kept Joseph in the fold all year. He’ll move on after one season to work with his former teammate in Baltimore.
Baltimore also has a bench coach vacancy after parting with Fredi González at the end of the year. The O’s haven’t settled on a replacement, but one notable name is connected to the job. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that the Orioles have interest in David Ross for the position, though he cautions that it’s unclear if that interest is mutual.
Last winter, Ross rebuffed interest from the Yankees regarding their bench coach job. That came within a week of his surprise firing as Cubs manager when Chicago jumped on the chance to hire Craig Counsell. Ross seemingly didn’t have any desire to take a non-managerial coaching job at the time. It isn’t known if that has changed, though he has close ties to Baltimore skipper Brandon Hyde. The O’s manager was on the Cubs’ coaching staff while Ross played for Chicago in 2015-16.
The Os fired hired? That’s a new twist!
It’s somethin
Are the Mariners really the best organization to poach a hitting coach from?
Exactly
I can’t help but feel like this is a spot on question and highlights a bad move.
Those who can’t teach.
See the ball, hit the ball.
Much more complicated than that today due to pitchers throwing
so hard.
Thankfully, that’s why they will be coaching
Still takes a lot to be even a mediocre player.
And to get to the big leagues if you are light on natural talent. Have to learn the game and work twice as hard as those naturally gifted.
So, the Orioles’ offense implodes, and their reaction is to let go of/fire the two guys who had it rolling in 2023, and stick with the guy who was added for 2024… the year things went wrong. Hmm. Feels like they kept the wrong guy. I thought Borgschulte was going to be the one to stay.
Augmenting Asche with a guy from the M’s organization seems to be throwing bad after bad. I hope this doesn’t compound the problem.