Will Albernaz bring more bunting to Baltimore?

New Orioles manager Craig Albernaz delivered his first message to the fan base yesterday via the team’s social media accounts. Light in length but with a thick Boston accent.

“Can’t wait to see all you guys out at Camden Yards this year to watch our boys go out there to compete,” Albernaz said in the nine-second video.

The Orioles hope that they made a wicked good hire.

Albernaz spent the past two seasons as Guardians bench coach and associate manager under Stephen Vogt, and the team won back-to-back Central Division titles after finishing third in 2023. Vogt was chosen as the American League’s Manager of the Year in ’24.

The Guardians went 4-3 against the Orioles this summer. They had a healthier roster and much better pitching, registering a 3.70 ERA compared to the Orioles’ 4.60. Cleveland’s 3.44 bullpen ERA was third in the majors. The Orioles, decimated at the deadline, were 25^th at 4.57.

Albernaz isn’t walking into a perfect situation. Otherwise, the job wouldn’t have been vacant.

Lee Mazzilli drew some criticism during his tenure as manager because he often made references to how it was done in New York. Albernaz can’t carry Cleveland to Camden Yards. He wasn’t allowed to bring seven-time All-Star José Ramírez with him. He’s got to adapt to his surroundings. But he can implement many of the same ideas, motivate and connect. He’s a builder of relationships.

Maybe a new voice and a fresh set of eyes will get the club back on track. The derailment was painful to watch.

Let’s examine one area that could change with Albernaz in charge.

The Orioles laid down four sacrifice bunts this year, the fewest in baseball. The Guardians had 28 to rank fifth. The Padres were first with 48, followed by the Diamondbacks with 37, the Blue Jays with 35 and the Royals with 29.

The Tigers were closest to the Orioles with only five.

So what does this mean for 2026?

Interim manager Tony Mansolino said at the season-ending press conference that the Orioles had to become more adept at playing small ball.

“I’ll be honest with you on this one. I think our young players, I think we need to get better at that in a lot of ways. And to me, that’s a spring training thing,” he said.

“I think these guys have to be pushed in spring training to turn back the clock a little bit, and have the ability to play more of an early ‘90s style of the game. It’s a really hard thing to do during the season to put that type of stuff in place when you’ve got some players who go through a minor league system or a college career and they don’t bunt a lot. It’s hard to ask them to do that off a guy who’s throwing 100 in the ninth inning for the first time.

“That version of the game, that is an area where I think the staff here in place next year can make it better, and the time to do that is spring training.”

The new staff will be tasked with improving that area of the offense, especially through periods when the bats go cold. Bunting isn’t ignored in camp - I’ve seen stations set up for it - but the offensive philosophy might be tweaked to more often accommodate and encourage it.

That’s part of the fix. The roster needs players who are capable of doing it. We don’t know whether the extra work and emphasis will matter.

“The team that finished last in our division last year just won it, and it just shows how small margins are,” president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias said at the season-ending presser. “You’ve got to stay on top of everything and be as good as you can be in all these different facets, and there’s just a lot that goes into it. There's constantly areas where you feel a little bit behind, you get a little bit better, and then over here something else develops. There’s just so many fine points to the game that you really got to stay on top of.

“It’s not up to me to get down there and dictate our fundamentals. That’s not my expertise. But we’ve got to put together staffs and communication systems and people that have the right philosophies in all those areas and stay on top of it. That's something that the person in the manager's chair, people in the front office, people in our ownership group, just everyone available who are experts in this area, we’re going to put a lot of time into getting organized and getting a little bit better next year.”