Baltimore Orioles Make Two Surprising Changes to Their Coaching Staff

The Baltimore Orioles are shaking things up on their coaching staff heading into next season. Two coaches will not return in their same role with the team in 2024.

The Baltimore Orioles were able to enjoy a lot of success this season after beginning a rebuilding process that saw them finish under .500 from 2017-2021.

Their long journey to create a contender culminated with becoming the best American League team this past season, winning the AL East and making the playoffs.

The inexperienced roster was ultimately swept out of the postseason, but it was still a major highlight for the franchise that had gone through a ton of struggles in recent years.

In figuring out how to become perennial contenders for years to come, the Orioles have decided to make changes to their coaching staff.

According to Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun, pitching coaches Chris Holt and Darren Holmes will no longer serve on the staff under manager Brandon Hyde in 2024.

Holt, who also operates as the director of pitching, will solely focus on that role with Baltimore going forward.

Holmes will not be back with the team in any capacity.

The Orioles will continue to let Holt focus on his duties as director of pitching, which saw their staff have the best year-to-year ERA improvement in over 90 years from 2021 to 2022.

Baltimore had an MLB-worst ERA of 5.84 in 2021 and finished 2022 ranked 17th with an ERA of 3.97.

Holt was hired by general manager Mike Elias in 2018 to be their minor league pitching coordinator and worked his way into his current role.

Holmes was named the Orioles' bullpen coach in 2019 and operated as the assistant pitching coach.

It's unknown as of now if both coaching spots will be filled on the staff heading into 2024, but Ruiz reports that they are eyeing internal candidates Justin Ramsey and Ryan Klimek for these roles.

Ramsey currently operates as their Triple-A affiliate's pitching coach and Baltimore's upper-level pitching coordinator, while Klimek is currently the pitching strategy coach.