masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIn case you missed O’s Xtra on MASN2, here are manager Buck Showalter’s comments about Mark Connor’s resignation as pitching coach:

“Mark called me yesterday about noon and we sat down for about an hour or so and talked. For personal reasons, he just didn’t feel like he could continue to do what was needed for a pitching coach with the Baltimore Orioles and what our players needed. He’s driving home to Knoxville. I spoke to him this afternoon. We’ll see when the smoke clears in a couple…In case you missed O’s Xtra on MASN2, here are manager Buck Showalter’s comments about Mark Connor’s resignation as pitching coach:

“Mark called me yesterday about noon and we sat down for about an hour or so and talked. For personal reasons, he just didn’t feel like he could continue to do what was needed for a pitching coach with the Baltimore Orioles and what our players needed. He’s driving home to Knoxville. I spoke to him this afternoon. We’ll see when the smoke clears in a couple weeks kind of where he is with everything. It was a tough call for him, but it was one that, looking back on it, I’m glad he had the guts to do it.”

Rick Adair and Buck Showalter talk about the resignation of Mark Connor

Connor’s replacement, former bullpen coach Rick Adair, talked about the staff he’s inheriting.

“Talent, young, inexperienced, growing, headed in the right direction – all the things that I think even the public sees,” he said. “We do know we have a ways to go, but we’re making strides. Some not as fast as others, but we feel very good about the personnel we have and the youth we have and the talent we have.”

Asked how he describes himself as a pitching coach, Adair quipped, “I try to stay out of the way as much as possible and just try to develop relationships.”

Adair described Connor as “a very good friend.”

“We’ll miss him,” Adair said.

“We talked and had a good conversation as we’ve always had. With all the things that he has going on, I know that he’s had some personal issues and that’s what it is. Like I said, we’re going to miss him.

“He developed a good relationship with a lot of these guys and he’s going to miss that, and miss what we have a chance to do here, especially with some of our younger guys. I’ve obviously been with everybody every day and look forward to carrying on what he set forth here.”

Also, since we were debating the next step for left-hander Brian Matusz after Sunday’s disappointing start, he’s scheduled to take the mound Saturday night against the Nationals in Washington.