Baltimore Orioles fans had already had it up to here with manager Brandon Hyde amid the team's dismal 13-22 start to the season. Granted, GM Mike Elias didn't exactly set Hyde up for success with an all-too-sleepy offseason that failed to address the team's rotation. But Hyde has hardly covered himself in glory, whether it's his lineup decisions, his bullpen management or his shockingly surly postgame quotes.
Through all that turbulence, the O's have stayed the course. Now, though, the calls for a change are going to be even louder: If even the Pittsburgh Pirates — a team that hasn't actively tried to win in about a decade — can muster up the urgency to fire their manager, then what's Baltimore's excuse?
The Pirates manifestly did not put Derek Shelton in a position to succeed, and even they felt like things had gotten bad enough to make a change. Meanwhile, the Orioles entered 2025 with legitimate World Series aspirations, and they entered Thursday just 2.5 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the standings. If even Bob Nutting thinks the situation has grown desperate ... well, that shoudl tell you everything you need to know.
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Orioles fans desperately hoping Baltimore follows Pirates' lead
Hyde has been with the Orioles for years. He saw them through the depths of the Elias rebuild, and shepherded a young team to consecutive postseason appearances. But both of those appearances ended in sweeps, the team has regressed in every conceivable way so far this season.
Hyde has his strengths as a manager, but he also has some very clear weaknesses. And sometimes, you simply need a different voice: It seems clear that Baltimore's skipper is no longer capable of inspiring his charges (heck, he barely seems to be trying to inspire his charges at this point).
You never want to make a move just for the sake of making a move, but at the same time, competitive windows don't last forever; the O's can't afford to waste a season of Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman's prime. The downside of moving on from Hyde would seem to be drastically outweighed by the benefit of a breath of fresh air. The Pirates largely got rid of Shelton because they needed a scapegoat, but if the Elias era so far has taught us anything, it's that sometimes there is such a thing as being too level-headed.