MLB

Orioles fire manager Brandon Hyde

This is early to fire a manager, but the 15-28 Orioles have greatly underachieved. Winning 101 games in 2023 and 91 last season, expectations were high for Baltimore this year. A talented group of young position players was the main reason, leading to the assumption of a normal progression arc for the club. A horrid start has taken the wind out of those sails, leading to Hyde’s dismissal.

It’s easy to forget how bad the Orioles were in 2019, Hyde’s first season. A 54-108 mark was a jump over Buck Showalter’s 47-win 2018 team, so the view was that Hyde had the franchise on the right trajectory. The build up to contention took a few years, but that assumption was eventually proven correct. That’s what makes this season’s record so mystifying. Sure, Baltimore’s pitching is subpar, but many of the team’s young position players have stagnated or regressed.

Hyde is the fall guy, but the Orioles need better performance from some of their building blocks. It’s possible this firing provides a needed spark, but that’s no certainty. A failed rebuild is the other side of the coin, and if the losses continue to pile up, the organization’s worst nightmare could become reality.

Grade: B