Orioles announce minor league and player development staffs

The Orioles are bringing back seven of their minor league managers in the same roles in 2023, but also replacing and relocating several coaches.

Buck Britton will begin his second season as manager at Triple-A Norfolk after top prospects Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson graduated to the majors last summer. Kyle Moore returns to Double-A Bowie, Roberto Mercado to High-A Aberdeen, Felipe Rojas Alou Jr. to Single-A Delmarva, Christian Frias to the Florida Complex League Orioles, and Chris Madera and Elbis Morel to the two Dominican Summer League entries.

Matt Packer shifts to complex coordinator of instruction after managing in the FCL last season. The Orioles are fielding one FCL team this year. They have a sufficient number of players, but only one game scheduled.

Among the new hires are Sherman Johnson as Bowie’s hitting coach and Austin Meine as Aberdeen pitching coach.

Johnson, who replaces Branden Becker, appeared in 10 game with the Angels in 2018 – going hitless in 11 plate appearances – and posted a .362 on-base percentage in nine minor league seasons that included stints in the Reds (2019) and Twins (2021) systems. He spent last year with independent Kane County.

The Angels drafted Johnson in the 14^th round in 2012 out of Florida State University.

Meine was the pitching coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte since December 2020 after serving as the director of pitching and biomechanics at Premier Pitching Performance (P3) in St. Louis.

Jordie Henry is one of the FCL pitching coaches, coming over from Prime Sports Performance in Baltimore, where he most recently was the director of pitching. He played four seasons at Wayland Baptist University in Texas.

Forrest Herrmann, the IronBirds’ first-year pitching coach in 2022, goes to the Baysox as the replacement for Josh Conway.

The shuffling also includes Brink Ambler moving up from Delmarva to Norfolk as hitting coach after one season. He replaces Tim Gibbons, who accepted a position as the baseball professional services lead with TruMedia, a company that provides tools for data analytics to teams from various sports.

Adam Bleday replaces Joe Haumacher as Delmarva’s pitching coach after serving in the same role last summer in the FCL. With Ambler promoted, the Orioles have elevated Josh Bunselmeyer to Shorebirds hitting coach.

Development coach Ryan Goll goes from Aberdeen to Bowie and also becomes offseason camp coordinator. Billy Facteau is the IronBirds new development coach, a role he held with the Baysox last season.

Chase Serby, hired last year as a FCL development coach, is promoted to Aberdeen’s fundamentals coach. He’s replacing Isaiah Page, who’s now a pitching development coach in the FCL. Christian Poulsen was a hitting coach in the DSL before rising to the FCL.

Anthony Villa, who spent last summer as lower-level hitting coordinator, will have his responsibilities expanded to every affiliate.

Baysox fundamentals coach Tim DeJohn also has been promoted to minor league infield coordinator at all levels.

Matt Packer goes from making his managerial debut in the FCL to becoming complex coordinator of instruction.

Former FCL strength and conditioning coach Julio Diaz has also been promoted to complex strength and conditioning coordinator, overseeing both Sarasota and the Dominican Republic Academy.

Griffin Pyott has been named the Tides’ assistant athletic trainer after working in the same role with Delmarva in 2022, his first season in the organization. Athletic trainer Allyse Kramer moves from Aberdeen to Bowie.

Strength and conditioning coach Sam Sauer shifts from the FCL to Aberdeen. Delmarva’s strength and condition coach is Chris Frosch, who was a seasonal strength and conditioning coach in Sarasota during the 2022 season.

IronBirds athletic trainer Tori Atencio formerly worked for the Pioneer League Billings Mustangs and was an assistant athletic trainer at Montana State University.

The Orioles hired Matt Hunter as assistant minor league medical coordinator. He was minor league medical coordinator with the Mets.

Matt Blood returns for his fourth season as director of player development and Kent Qualls returns for his 11^th as director of minor league operations.

Coordinator of minor league operations Ramón Alarcón, coordinator of minor league technology Joe Betelho, education coordinator Anaíma García, coordinator of instruction Jeff Kunkel, minor league pitching coordinator Mitch Plassmeyer, complex pitching and rehab coordinator Dave Schmidt and Latin American pitching supervisor Anderson Tavarez stay in their roles. Norfolk pitching coach Justin Ramsey also remains upper-level pitching coordinator.

David Barry and Adam Schuck continue their work as player development analysts for hitting and pitching, respectively.

Triple-A Norfolk
Manager: Buck Britton
Pitching coach: Justin Ramsey
Hitting coach: Brink Ambler
Fundamentals coach: Ramón Sambo
Development coach: Joshua Rodrigues

Double-A Bowie
Manager: Kyle Moore
Pitching coach: Forrest Herrmann
Hitting coach Sherman Johnson
Fundamentals coach: Tim DeJohn
Development coach: Ryan Goll

High-A Aberdeen
Manager: Roberto Mercado
Pitching coach: Austin Meine
Hitting coach: Zach Cole
Fundamentals coach: Chase Serby
Development coach: Billy Facteau

Single-A Delmarva
Manager: Felipe Rojas Alou Jr.
Pitching coach: Adam Bleday
Hitting coach: Josh Bunselmeyer
Fundamentals coach: Daniel Fajardo
Development coach: Collin Murray

Florida Complex League
Manager: Christian Frias
Pitching coaches: Jordie Henry and Andy Sadoski
Hitting coaches: Jaylen Ferguson and Christian Poulsen
Fundamentals coaches: Collin Woody and Troy Marrow
Pitching development coach: Isaiah Page
Development coach: Teegan Leader

Dominican Summer League
Managers: Chris Madera and Elbis Morel
Pitching coach: Dioni Pascual
Hitting coaches: Julian González and Jake Ratz
Fundamentals coaches: Miguel Jabalera and Ramón Lubo