During a recent chat with local reporters, Orioles general manager Mike Elias was asked if he provides any input into manager Brandon Hyde’s lineups on a day-to-day basis.
“I am not involved with lineups,” Elias said. “Our front office produces information that helps Brandon and the advance team that works with Brandon to choose the lineups on a nightly basis. But our philosophy is that the guys in the clubhouse should be deciding that. They’re the ones that are the closest to the information that have a feel for the players on a night-to-night basis.”
Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter is familiar with the collaboration common in writing out a lineup in the modern game, having most recently served as the manager of the New York Mets from 2022-2023. Showalter has been managing off and on since 1992, so he’s seen how the role of the manager has evolved throughout the years.
So what’s the job of the manager these days?
“It depends on the front office. It depends on the manager. It depends on a lot of things,” Showalter said on Glenn Clark Radio April 23.
One of the topics of conversation during the Orioles’ slow start to the 2025 season has been the number of different lineups Hyde has fielded, with the manager telling local reporters recently that his lineups are “ever-changing.” Hyde used 22 unique lineups in the Orioles’ first 24 games this season.
The Orioles have always been aggressive in chasing the platoon advantage under Hyde since he was hired ahead of the 2019 season. However, the club’s well-documented struggles against left-handed starters in the early going present a difficult dilemma. Do the Orioles continue to give struggling right-handed hitters opportunities or allow young left-handed bats like Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad to develop as everyday players?
Against the Washington Nationals on April 22, the Orioles opted to start lefty bats Cedric Mullins, Gunnar Henderson, Holliday and Kjerstad against lefty starter Mitchell Parker, who threw eight innings of one-hit ball.
“They’re going to see a lot of left-handed pitching,” Showalter said.
Constant shuffling due to injuries, performance, matchups or trades is not uncommon around baseball. Showalter used 132 unique lineups with the Mets in 2022 and 138 in 2023. He welcomed input from Mets analytics staffers when it came to the lineup …
“I could tell if there was something we were doing with the lineup that they didn’t particularly like and they had a better way that there would be some stats show up that supports their theory, and that’s good,” Showalter said. “I wanted people to come in very openly. There might be a better way. I didn’t have all the answers.”
… as long it helped the Mets.
“I said, ‘My door’s not open, it’s not closed, it’s cracked. Come on in here, but you better bring something that helps us win,'” Showalter said. “We had a guy with the Mets that headed up the analytical department. He told the people, ‘Go on in there, Buck’s very welcoming but he’s going to ask you one question. You better be able to answer it. He’s going to say how does this help us win a game? If you can’t answer that, and you’ve just got some schtick you’re trying to create and carve out something in the game that you’re known for, you’re in the wrong place because if you’ve got an agenda, it’s not going to fly in there. He’s going to say, ‘How does it help us win a game?'”
An “ever-changing” lineup is nothing new in Baltimore. The Orioles mixed and matched throughout the 2023 campaign, using 150 unique lineups en route to a 101-win season. One player who has benefited from aggressive platooning is Ryan O’Hearn, who struggled to establish himself in Kansas City but became a key part of the Orioles’ lineup against right-handed pitching after he came to Baltimore. To date, O’Hearn has just 82 plate appearances against lefties as an Oriole.
O’Hearn explained that the Orioles’ philosophy is to keep all 13 position players engaged in the competition and match up against the opposing pitcher.
“Especially early in the year, you have to keep everybody involved because you can’t just rely on a guy who’s got 10 at-bats and it’s the middle of May and we need you,” O’Hearn said on GCR April 17. “You have to look at it from that point of view. I think realizing that and that’s how it’s run, it’s like, ‘OK, I don’t make the lineup, I’ll hit wherever, I’ll play wherever.’ I don’t think anybody on the team gripes about that. I think that’s just our style. I think the lineups are good.”
For more from Showalter, listen to the full interview here:
For more from O’Hearn, listen to the full interview here:
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