BALTIMORE — Robinson Chirinos replaced Fredi González on Monday as the Baltimore Orioles‘ bench coach under manager Brandon Hyde.
Chirinos, 40, was a big league catcher in 11 seasons through 2022, finishing with the Orioles. He hit .226 with 95 homers and 306 RBIs in 714 games for the Tampa Bay Rays (2011), Texas Rangers (2013-18, ’20), Houston Astros (2019), New York Mets (2020), Chicago Cubs (2021) and Baltimore.
González, 60, spent five seasons as an Orioles coach, including the past three as bench coach. He managed the Florida Marlins from 2007-10 and the Atlanta Braves from 2011-16.
Hampered by pitching injuries, the Orioles finished second in the AL East at 91-71 in their sixth season under Hyde and were swept by the Kansas City Royals in an AL wild-card series
Cody Asche becomes hitting coach after two seasons as offensive strategy coach and replaced Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte. Tommy Joseph will be assistant hitting coach, a role he had with Seattle last season.
Sherman Johnson was promoted to assistant hitting coach/upper-level hitting coordinator from minor league upper-level hitting coordinator, and Buck Britton will be a major league coach after managing in the Orioles’ system at Class A Delmarva (2018), Double-A Bowie (2019,-21) and Triple-A Norfolk (2022-24).
Returning in their same roles are pitching coach Drew French (for his second season), assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer (second), pitching strategy coach Ryan Klimek (third), third-base coach Tony Mansolino (fifth), first-base coach Anthony Sanders (sixth), major league development coach Grant Anders (second) and major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins (seventh).