Underperformance since the middle of last season was the reason Orioles general manager Mike Elias provided Tuesday for firing Brandon Hyde as manager three days earlier.
Making his first public comments since making the move, Elias said the team was starting to run out of time for a turnaround.
Baltimore entered Tuesday’s matchup vs. the Milwaukee Brewers 16 games under .500 (15-31) and in last place in the AL East. They also entered Tuesday on a seven-game losing streak.
“I’m working to fix this as rapidly as I can, and I’m in a position where regardless of how it affects me or my personal situation, I have to make decisions that I judge, in collaboration with my bosses … to be in the best interest of the Baltimore Orioles,” Elias said Tuesday prior to the game in Milwaukee.
Hyde led the Orioles to the American League East title in 2023, winning 101 games in the process. But Baltimore was eliminated from the playoffs early (ALDS), then suffered the same fate in 2024 (AL wild card) and lost ace Corbin Burnes via free agency to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“This is deeply disappointing to me, and I’m doing everything in my power to correct and improve it,” Elias said.
Baltimore won 192 games the past two seasons but zero playoff games.
Third base coach Tony Mansolino was promoted to replace Hyde, but the results Elias admits he was seeking by making the abrupt change had yet to develop. Baltimore lost its first three games after Hyde was fired by a run differential of minus-11.
Orioles pitchers surrendered a league-worst 72 home runs and ranked ahead of only the Colorado Rockies in team ERA at 5.53 through their first 46 games.
“This is a team that we feel collectively and individually is underperforming its talent level,” he said. “We want something new in order to hopefully restore again to the level that we expect of ourselves.”
–Field Level Media
