Different reasons exist for candidates to qualify for Comeback Player of the Year in the majors. It can be a productive return from a down season. It can be a return from a serious injury. Trey Mancini is a finalist in the Major League Baseball Players Association's Players Choice Awards after missing the 2020 season with Stage 3 colon cancer. Just typing that sentence makes him feel like the favorite over teammate Cedric Mullins and the Mariners' Mitch Haniger, but we'll find out Thursday...

The Orioles aren't going to make any determinations on their coaching staff until after the last out on Oct. 3. They'll do the usual evaluating and decide whether the unit remains intact under manager Brandon Hyde or requires one or more replacements. Movement already has started on the minor league side. Single-A Aberdeen hitting coach Tom Eller and low Single-A Delmarva hitting coach Patrick Jones won't return in 2022, according to multiple sources. Eller was head baseball coach at Harford...

One of the players signed by the Orioles as an undrafted player is a two-way talent. They already know how they're going to develop him in the minors, but it's nice to have options. Isaiah Kearns of Pittsburgh-Johnstown is listed as a right-handed pitcher and left fielder. He put up impressive numbers across the board in 2020 prior to the shutdown, slashing .400/.507/.764 with eight doubles, four home runs, 17 RBIs, nine walks and 15 runs scored in 17 games and going 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA,...

The attitude is the first trait that really got Anthony Servideo noticed. Tom Eller, who would have been serving as Single-A Frederick hitting coach prior to the shutdown, got an up-close look at the Orioles' third-round draft pick back in 2018. Eller was coaching the Maryland Redbirds in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League and Servideo had joined the team after his freshman season at the University of Mississippi. Eller's initial thought? "I was watching him in the Super Regionals two...

The technology in baseball is moving fast. In this recent entry, O's minor league hitting coach Tom Eller gave us a bit of a primer on some of the technology that is in place as of 2019 on the Orioles farm. For most of us, it was probably both educational and enlightening. Eller was new to the O's organization in the 2019 season. He started it as hitting coach at Single-A Delmarva and later moved to join short-season Single-A Aberdeen when its season began last June. Some fans that watch the...

He was new to the Orioles organization in 2019 and was one of the first minor league coaching hires by the new front office after Mike Elias was hired as executive vice president and general manager last November. Tom Eller was already close by geographically. Eller had spent the previous 12 seasons as the head coach at Harford Community College in Churchville. In his tenure from 2007 to 2018 the Fighting Owls went 433-230-2, winning five Region XX championships, including back-to-back titles...

One of the offseason trends for the Orioles involves the hiring of college coaches to minor league positions, and the announcements coming via their Twitter accounts. Social media working its magic again. The latest confirmation arrived Tuesday night, with Matt Trate tweeting that "my family and I are looking forward to the next chapter with @Orioles as I have accepted a position as a MiLB hitting coach." Trate had been working as associate head baseball coach/recruiting coordinator at...

With exactly one week remaining before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the Orioles are applying the finishing touches to the construction of their minor league staffs and an announcement is coming within the next few days. Certainly before I board my Monday flight to Sarasota. What do we know? Well, let's start with Gary Kendall, who's replacing Ron Johnson as manager at Triple-A Norfolk. Mike Griffin returns as Tides pitching coach. Buck Britton moves up from low Single-A...

Beyond the outside hires that have been made public via Twitter, the Orioles also are shuffling minor league personnel to fill vacancies at multiple levels of their farm system. The Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk has announced the promotion of manager Gary Kendall, 55, from Double-A Bowie. Kendall will replace Ron Johnson. Buck Britton, 32, is moving up from low Single-A Delmarva to Bowie as Kendall's replacement, according to sources. An announcement from the Orioles is pending on the...

The Orioles' search for a veteran catcher to toss into the spring training competition led them to Jesús Sucre, who has agreed to terms on a minor league deal. The announcement came this afternoon. Sucre's contract includes an invitation to major league camp and guarantees $850,000 if he makes the club. USA Today reported that the deal also includes a March 22 opt-out date. The 40-man roster still holds only two catchers - Austin Wynns and Chance Sisco, who were rookies in 2018. Non-roster...

As Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias told us last week in this interview, one key stat to help size up pitching prospects is strikeouts. Elias believes that stat can show dominance and tell us much about a pitcher's ability. Said Elias: "It just speaks to the quality of your stuff and the quality of your skill relative to your competitors. It's not perfect, but it's probably the most stable and one of the most trustworthy stats in terms of how good a pitcher's...