The Orioles are in discussions with longtime major league coach John Mabry to join their coaching staff, according to a report by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. When the Orioles fired Brandon Hyde on May 17th, they not only promoted third base coach Tony Mansolino to serve as interim manager but dismissed Hyde’s close friend, Tim Cossins.
They moved major league coach Buck Britton to third base coach and sent assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer to the bullpen to replace Cossins, but haven’t added any coaches.
With a very inexperienced coaching staff, Mansolino has no veteran coach to lean on. The 54-year-old Mabry played 14 seasons with eight teams, and coached 12 seasons with St. Louis, Kansas City and Miami, mostly as a hitting coach.
Mabry was on manager Mike Matheny’s coaching staffs with both the Cardinals and Royals. He served as assistant hitting coach for manager Skip Schumaker in Miami.
Note: Colton Cowser was 3-for-4 and Jordan Westburg was 1-for-3 in their first rehab games for Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday. Both players drove in a run in Norfolk’s 8-2 loss to Lehigh Valley. Cowser played center field and Westburg was the designated hitter.