Orioles announce 2023 minor league coaching staffs, with all managers remaining in organization
The effort to do so led to plenty of turnover when it came to Baltimore’ s minor league coaches in recent years, but Thursday’ s announcement of the club’ s developmental staff for 2023 shows how confident the Orioles are in their current group. Buck Britton, Kyle Moore, Roberto Mercado and Felipe Rojas Alou Jr. will be in their second seasons as the managers of Triple-A...
Constructing the “elite talent pipeline” Mike Elias promised when he was hired as the Orioles’ executive vice president and general manager required that the organization not only brought talented players into its farm system, but also built coaching staffs capable of making them even better.
The effort to do so led to plenty of turnover when it came to Baltimore’s minor league coaches in recent years, but Thursday’s announcement of the club’s developmental staff for 2023 shows how confident the Orioles are in their current group. All eight of Baltimore’s minor league managers from 2022 remain in the organization, with all but one returning to his previous role. Six of the eight pitching and hitting coaches at full-season affiliates were in the organization last year, as well.
Buck Britton, Kyle Moore, Roberto Mercado and Felipe Rojas Alou Jr. will be in their second seasons as the managers of Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, High-A Aberdeen and Low-A Delmarva, respectively. The Orioles will have only one affiliate in the Florida Complex League, with Christian Frias managing it, while Matt Packer, who managed the team’s other rookie-level affiliate in 2022, will serve as complex coordinator of instruction. Elbis Morel and Chris Madera will manage Baltimore’s Dominican Summer League teams.
This will mark Britton’s fifth season as one of the Orioles’ minor league managers, having also been at Delmarva in 2018 and Bowie from 2019 to 2021. His Norfolk staff is largely the same as last year’s, with Justin Ramsey returning as pitching coach and upper-level pitching coordinator and Ramón Sambo and Joshua Rodrigues back as fundamentals coach and development coach, respectively. After serving as Low-A Delmarva’s hitting coach in 2022, Brink Ambler is now in the same role with Norfolk.
Pitching coach Forrest Herrmann and development coach Ryan Goll were also promoted, going from Aberdeen to Bowie. Sherman Johnson, who had a brief major league career with the Los Angeles Angels, is now the Baysox’s hitting coach. Tim DeJohn returns as Bowie’s fundamentals coach.
After leading the IronBirds to a South Atlantic League championship appearance and earning the Orioles’ Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award, Mercado is back at Aberdeen, with Zach Cole again serving as his hitting coach. Austin Meine joins the organization as its High-A pitching coach after being the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s pitching coordinator since 2021. Chase Sebby, Baltimore’s FCL development coach in 2022, and Billy Facteau, Bowie’s development coach last year, will now be in those roles for Aberdeen.
Pitching coach Adam Bleday and hitting coach Josh Bunselmeyer join Alou’s Delmarva staff after having those roles in the FCL last season. Daniel Fajardo and Collin Murray are back in their respective roles as fundamentals coach and development coach.
Although Frias is now the organization’s lone FCL manager, the Orioles will continue to staff two pitching coaches, hitting coaches, fundamentals coach and developmental coaches there. At both the pitching and hitting positions, Baltimore has one returner and one newcomer, with Jordie Henry joining Andy Sadoski to coach pitchers and Christian Poulsen moved up from the DSL to coach hitters alongside Jaylen Ferguson. Troy Marrow and Collin Woody are both back as fundamentals coaches. After a season as Aberdeen’s fundamentals coach, Isaiah Page is the Orioles’ FCL pitching development coach, with Teegan Leader spending his fourth season in the organization as the FCL development coach.
Alongside Morel and Madera, pitching coach Dioni Pascual and fundamentals coaches Miguel Jabalera and Ramón Lubo are back in the DSL. Julian González and Jake Ratz will serve as hitting coaches.
At an organizational level, most of the Orioles’ player development staff under director of player development Matt Blood and director of minor league operations Kent Qualls remain in their previous roles, with a handful of exceptions. With upper-level hitting coordinator Cody Asche joining Baltimore’s major league staff as offensive strategy coach — the only change to the Orioles’ major league coaching staff — Anthony Villa is the hitting coordinator for all affiliates after previously focusing on lower levels. Matt Hunter joined the organization as assistant minor league medical coordinator, having most recently been the New York Mets’ minor league medical coordinator.
Triple-A Norfolk
Manager: Buck Britton
Pitching coach: Justin Ramsey
Hitting coach: Brink Ambler
Fundamentals coach: Ramón Sambo
Development coach: Joshua Rodrigues
Double-A Bowie
Manager: Kyle Moore
Pitching coach: Forrest Herrmann
Hitting coach: Sherman Johnson
Fundamentals coach: Tim DeJohn
Development coach: Ryan Goll
High-A Aberdeen
Manager: Roberto Mercado
Pitching coach: Austin Meine
Hitting coach: Zach Cole
Fundamentals coach: Chase Sebby
Development coach: Billy Facteau
Low-A Delmarva
Manager: Felipe Rojas Alou Jr.
Pitching coach: Adam Bleday
Hitting coach: Josh Bunselmeyer
Fundamentals coach: Daniel Fajardo
Development coach: Collin Murray
Florida Complex League
Manager: Christian Frias
Pitching coaches: Jordie Henry and Andy Sadoski
Hitting coaches: Jaylen Ferguson and Christian Poulsen
Fundamentals coaches: Collin Woody and Troy Marrow
Development coaches: Isaiah Paige (pitching) and Teegan Leader
Dominican Summer League
Managers: Chris Madera and Elbis Morel
Pitching coach: Dioni Pascual
Hitting coaches: Julian González and Jake Ratz
Fundamentals coaches: Miguel Jabalera and Ramón Lubo
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