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Buck Britton

Buck Britton Will Return As Orioles’ Third Base Coach

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The Orioles’ coaching staff has been in a fluid state since the team hired Craig Albernaz as the new skipper, but interim third base coach Buck Britton will be a holdover for the 2026 season. Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner reports that Britton will shed the “interim” label in his title and return as Baltimore’s third base coach next season.

Britton opened the 2025 season on the Orioles’ staff but with the generic title of major league coach. He moved into the third base coach role after the O’s fired manager Brandon Hyde and elevated then-third base coach Tony Mansolino to the interim manager post. Mansolino interviewed for the full-time gig but lost out to Albernaz and has since joined Atlanta’s coaching staff.

The 39-year-old Britton is the older brother of former Orioles star reliever Zack Britton. He played in parts of seven minor league seasons — seven with the Orioles — from 2008-16. His playing days closed with minor league stints in the Dodgers and Twins organizations. Britton almost immediately jumped into coaching, landing a job as the hitting coach for the Orioles’ Class-A affiliate in 2017. A year later, he was managing that club. Britton slowly climbed the minor league ladder as a skipper, managing the Orioles’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for multiple seasons each until he was added to the big league staff in 2025.

Given the glut of managerial and coaching experience he’s accrued before even celebrating his 40th birthday, Britton could well have a prominent future in big league dugouts. He’ll join pitching coach Drew French and pitching strategy coach Ryan Klimek on a revamped staff that includes new hires Donnie Ecker (bench coach), Dustin Lind (hitting coach), Miguel Cairo (infield coach) and Jason Bourgeois (first base/outfield coach).

Orioles To Name Donnie Ecker Bench Coach

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The Orioles are hiring former Reds, Giants and Rangers coach Donnie Ecker as their new bench coach, reports the Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer. Ecker was the Giants’ hitting coach in 2020-21 and worked alongside new O’s skipper Craig Albernaz on that staff. Following that stint, he was the hitting coach in Texas before being promoted to bench coach and offensive coordinator. The Rangers fired Ecker back in May after a disappointing start to the season for the Texas lineup.

The 39-year-old Ecker was a 22nd-round draft pick by the Rangers back in 2007 and spent a couple seasons as a second baseman in their system before moving onto a two-year stint on the independent circuit. Since calling it quits as a player, he’s coached in the college ranks, worked on the Cardinals’ player development staff and held several coaching roles (assistant hitting coach, hitting coach, bench coach, offensive coordinator) between the Reds, Giants and Rangers.

Ecker will be the top lieutenant for a new-look Orioles coaching staff. Beyond the hirings of Albernaz and Ecker, Baltimore has brought in Jason Bourgeois as a first base/outfield coach and hired Dustin Lind as a hitting coach. Bourgeois, a former big league outfielder who played with Albernaz in the minors, has spent the past two seasons as the White Sox’ first base coach. Lind also coached with Albernaz on the 2020 Giants. He’s been an assistant hitting coach with either San Francisco or Philadelphia in each of the past five seasons.

The Orioles still have a handful of vacancies to fill on the staff. While Lind is the top hitting coach, they’ll likely add at least one assistant after former assistant hitting coaches Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson were not retained.

There could also be an opening at third base coach. Buck Britton held that role after former third base coach Tony Mansolino was elevated to interim manager following Brandon Hyde’s dismissal in May. Mansolino interviewed for the full-time managerial post but was not selected for the job and has since been hired to the Braves’ coaching staff. The O’s have interest in retaining Britton, per MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, but nothing has been finalized. There’s been no formal word on whether pitching coach Drew French, assistant pitching coach Ryan Klimek or Mitch Plassmeyer will be retained.

Orioles Add John Mabry To Coaching Staff

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The Orioles announced today that John Mabry has been added to the major league coaching staff as a senior advisor. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported yesterday that the two sides were in discussions about the position.

Mabry, 54, played in the big leagues from 1994 to 2007 but has pivoted to a coaching career since then. The Cardinals hired him as an assistant hitting coach prior to the 2012 season, working under hitting coach Mark McGwire. One year later, McGwire departed for the Dodgers and Mabry was promoted to hitting coach. Mabry held that job until manager Mark Matheny was fired in the middle of the 2018 season, with Mabry dismissed alongside the skipper.

He was then hired by the Royals as a major league coach for the 2020-22 seasons. He then returned to an assistant hitting coach role with the Marlins for the 2023 seasons and got promoted to hitting coach for 2024. At the end of last season, the Marlins underwent a massive internal staff turnover. They didn’t retain any of their coaching staff and also got rid of many clubhouse attendants, performance staff and others.

For the Orioles, they have recently started doing some staff turnover of their own. Amid a deeply disappointing season, they fired manager Brandon Hyde about two weeks ago. Third base coach Tony Mansolino became the interim manager. Major League field coordinator and catching instructor Tim Cossins was also let go. Major league coach Buck Britton took over for Mansolino as third base coach.

Mansolino doesn’t have a ton of big league coaching experience. He has managed in the minors but only joined a big league staff for the first time in 2020. He served as Cleveland’s third base coach and then pivoted to the Orioles in that same job for the 2021 season. As mentioned by Rosenthal, the club also has a first-year hitting coach in Cody Asche and a first-time bench coach in Robinson Chirinos. Pitching coach Drew French is only in his second season.

With the O’s having cut two members of the staff, Mabry will come in and give them a fresh set of eyes, presumably lending the wisdom of his experience to a new manager and a staff that’s fairly green on the whole.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Orioles Name Robinson Chirinos Bench Coach

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The Orioles finalized their 2025 coaching staff, announcing Monday morning that they’ve named former big league catcher Robinson Chirinos their new bench coach. Chirinos announced his retirement as a player in May 2023. Baltimore also added Triple-A skipper Buck Britton to the big league coaching staff with the generic title of “major league coach.”

It’ll be the first professional coaching assignment for the 40-year-old Chirinos, who was often referred to as a future managerial candidate during his playing days. The O’s were also reported to have some interest in former Cubs skipper David Ross (like Chirinos, primarily a backup catcher during his playing days) for the role of bench coach. It’s not known whether Ross interviewed for the post or even reciprocated the interest. Regardless, the O’s will move forward with Chirinos in this role as the former catcher starts the next chapter of his baseball career.

Chirinos’ final season as a player came with the Orioles in 2022. He appeared in 67 games and hit just .179/.265/.287 in what was his age-38 campaign. For much of Chirinos’ peak, however, he was a quality bat for his position. From 2014-21, Chirinos hit .232/.327/.438 in 2147 plate appearances, good for a 104 wRC+. He hit .226/.319/.419 in his career overall, spending time with the Rangers, Astros, Rays, Cubs, Orioles and Mets along the way.

That 2022 stint with the O’s should make Chirinos a familiar face in the dugout and clubhouse. He was teammates with a large portion of Baltimore’s expected 2025 roster that year, including Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Felix Bautista, Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias and more.

Britton, 38, should have a similar rapport with a number of the Orioles’ young players. He’s been managing their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk for the past three seasons and managed at lower levels in the system in the three prior seasons. The older brother of former Orioles reliever Zack Britton, Buck enjoyed a nine-year minor league career himself, most of which was spent in the Orioles’ system. He’s long been viewed as a future coach and potential manager at the MLB level as well.

The Orioles’ final 2025 staff breaks down as follows: Brandon Hyde (manager), Chirinos (bench coach), Cody Asche (hitting coach), Sherman Johnson (asst. hitting coach), Tommy Joseph (asst. hitting coach), Drew French (pitching coach), Mitch Plassmyer (asst. pitching coach), Ryan Klimek (pitching strategy coach), Anthony Sanders (first base coach), Tony Mansolino (third base coach), Grant Anders (major league development coach), Tim Cossins (catching coach/field coordinator) and Britton (major league coach).

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