The Baltimore Orioles yesterday rounded out their 2020 coaching staff. According to a source, manager Brandon Hyde is hiring Darren Holmes as the Birds’ bullpen coach. He had previously held the same position with the Colorado Rockies.
The bullpen coach was the final piece of the coaching staff that needed to be filled for the coming season. It’ll be interesting to see how the relievers out in the pen react to Holmes as their new position leader. The bullpen’s obviously been a bit of an issue for a couple of years.
However here’s an interesting manner by which to look at the Holmes signing. As I said, he held the same position in Colorado…where the ball flies even more so than it does in Baltimore. So he’s used to training pitchers to pitch in tough environments. Time will tell what results we see.
Holmes has been in Baltimore before, albeit briefly. He appeared in five games as an Oriole in 2000, surrendering 13 runs. His ERA was north of 25 in those five games. Hopefully he’s learned a thing or two since then!
Birdland Crush 