masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgNew Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace had a strong voice in the hiring of bullpen coach Dom Chiti. And it worked out nicely that Wallace recommended someone who also was familiar to and highly respected by manager Buck Showalter.

Wallace and Chiti came from the Braves organization, which has been known to produce good young pitchers. And Chiti, of course, was Showalter’s bullpen coach with the Rangers in 2006.

Asked yesterday about his choice, Wallace said, “Dom has a history with Buck,…New Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace had a strong voice in the hiring of bullpen coach Dom Chiti. And it worked out nicely that Wallace recommended someone who also was familiar to and highly respected by manager Buck Showalter.

Wallace and Chiti came from the Braves organization, which has been known to produce good young pitchers. And Chiti, of course, was Showalter’s bullpen coach with the Rangers in 2006.

Asked yesterday about his choice, Wallace said, “Dom has a history with Buck, No. 1. He’s done it before, and he and I have worked together the last few years, so we know each other real well.

“There’s a mutual respect and enough trust in each other’s abilities to argue points and come out with what is best for the players.”

Showalter has referred to Chiti as an assistant pitching coach, which is why Wallace took on a major role in the hiring.

So how exactly will the pitching coach and bullpen coach work together?

“It’s always great to have an extra set of eyes as far as pitchers are concerned,” Wallace said.

“There’s just so much stuff that goes on in the bullpen during the course of a game, and when you have a set of eyes that has experience and knows what to look at and also knows what we all have been doing collectively for that particular situation, it’s great to have that resource. That’s really important from our perspective.”

Wondering if anyone will produce a t-shirt with two sets of “fresh eyes” printed on it. All the pitchers could wear it.

Could be creepy. Could be catchy.

Reminder that today is the championship game in the Arizona Fall League. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is starting for the Surprise Saguaros. Henry Urrutia is playing left field and batting sixth, and Jonathan Schoop is playing shortstop and batting eighth.