Orioles hire new pitching coach

The Orioles are hiring Drew French to be their new pitching coach, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. French had previously been working as the bullpen coach in Atlanta.

French, 39, began his coaching career in college ball, serving various roles for Concordia University Texas, University of Alabama, Florida International University and Lee University. He was hired by the Astros in 2016 and worked in the minor leagues of that organization until getting hired as Atlanta’s bullpen coach prior to the 2021 season.

For the past three seasons, the Orioles have had Chris Holt working both as director of pitching and as pitching coach. He had the former role one year earlier, developing individualized pitching plans for both major league and minor league pitchers. But he also jumped into the dugout as pitching coach starting with the 2021 campaign. Perhaps the dual role was a bit much, as it was reported about a month ago that Holt would continue serving as director of pitching but not as pitching coach, with French now taking over in Brandon Hyde’s dugout. O’s general manager Mike Elias and Holt were both with the Astros prior to coming to Baltimore, their time in that organization overlapping with that of French.

This move will give Atlanta another vacancy to fill, with three recent departures. Third base/infield coach Ron Washington was named the manager of the Angels and later brought first base/outfield coach Eric Young Sr. with him to join his staff with the Halos.