Last-place Orioles fire manager Brandon Hyde after falling 13 games under .500

The Baltimore Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde, then needed less than an inning to show they have far deeper problems.

Kyle Gibson allowed six runs, failing to make it out of the top of the first, and the Orioles lost 10-6 to the Washington Nationals on Saturday. Baltimore, which is in last place in the AL East, fell to 15-29.

Before the game, the Orioles relieved Hyde of his duties. He guided the team through an extensive rebuild and won AL Manager of the Year in 2023, but Baltimore’s performance slipped noticeably during the second half of last season, and the Orioles have put themselves in a significant hole in 2025.

“As the head of baseball operations, the poor start to our season is ultimately my responsibility,” Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said in a statement. “Part of that responsibility is pursuing difficult changes in order to set a different course for the future. I want to thank Brandon for his hard work, dedication and passion all these years, and for returning the team to the playoffs and winning an AL East championship.”

Third base coach Tony Mansolino was named interim manager. The Orioles also fired major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins.

Hyde is the third major league manager fired in the last 10 days, joining Pittsburgh’s Derek Shelton and Colorado’s Bud Black.

Such is the precarious life of a big league skipper.

“Brandon and I are close. I love the guy,” said Nationals manager Dave Martinez, who once served with Hyde on the Cubs’ staff under Joe Maddon. “We all know what we sign up for when we take this job. It really just stinks. He’s a good man. I know he’ll land on his feet. I wish him all the best, but it’s a tough gig.”

Mansolino, who had never been a major league manager, would have preferred getting his first shot under different circumstances.

“Not excited. This isn’t a good thing for us,” Mansolino said after the loss. “We’re going to miss Brandon in a lot of ways. To me, he did a great job here. … To get to this point where a change is made, it’s not something any of us wanted, by any means.”

Orioles players were informed of Hyde’s dismissal during a team meeting headed by Elias, about four hours before the start of Baltimore’s game against Washington.

“Pretty surprised, honestly,” starting pitcher Cade Povich said. “It’s not something you expect to come in the morning and hear.”

Baltimore outfielder Ramón Laureano said: “That’s unfortunate because Brandon Hyde is a great guy. We, as players, have got to play better. The players are the ones with the bats and gloves.”

Hyde was in his seventh season as Baltimore’s manager. He endured seasons of 108 and 110 losses early on, but by 2023, the Orioles won the AL East with 101 victories — and the future looked incredibly bright thanks to young standouts like infielder Gunnar Henderson, catcher Adley Rutschman and right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.

Baltimore had other top prospects in the organization as well, but after a 49-25 start last year, the Orioles played sub-.500 baseball the rest of the way and settled for a wild card. For a second straight season, Baltimore was swept out of the playoffs in its first series.

Then came an offseason in which ace Corbin Burnes left via free agency, and the front office tried to patch up the rotation with one-year stopgaps like Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Gibson. Sugano has pitched well but the other two haven’t, and the Orioles have the worst ERA in the American League at 5.31.

Meanwhile, an offense that was supposed to be the team’s strength has been spotty. Rutschman is batting .214, Ryan Mountcastle is at .233 and Cedric Mullins has slumped all the way to .226 after a good start.

All that probably isn’t Hyde’s fault. But the organization hopes things change under Mansolino, who’s been the third base coach for the Orioles since 2021 after working in Cleveland’s minor league system from 2011-20.

“It hurts,” infielder Ramón Urías said of Hyde’s firing. “I feel like we let him down. But obviously we’re looking forward to changing things around mentally.”

Mansolino spoke softly in his first postgame session as a big league manager, stressing he was as surprised as anyone to be in that position.

“I’m a guy who hasn’t sat in a manager’s seat in six years,” he said. “I did it in Triple-A in 2019, but it’s been a while. So I don’t think you see yourself doing this.”

Despite Mansolino’s lack of experience, the organization apparently decided removing Hyde now was better than standing pat through the summer.

“Sometimes the case in baseball, change becomes necessary, and we believe this is one of those moments,” owner David Rubenstein said.

The Orioles are hitting .192 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in baseball. Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Nationals was a microcosm of the season so far. Baltimore left 15 men on base and allowed the winning run to score from second on an infield single in the top of the ninth.

Top prospects Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo haven’t produced much, and injuries to Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg and Tyler O’Neill have hurt the lineup as well. And the pitching staff could afford health problems even less. Rodriguez and reliever Andrew Kittredge haven’t pitched at all this year, and Zach Eflin missed time as well.

The team’s poor start has put Elias under scrutiny after what looked like a very successful rebuild. If the Orioles don’t climb back into contention this year, he will be under a lot of pressure next offseason to bring the team back to the path it appeared to be on less than a year ago.

___

AP freelance writer David Ginsburg contributed to this report.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb