When Brandon Hyde got his start as a big league coach, managing a playoff game was far different than now.
Hyde’s first year as the Florida Marlins’ bench coach was 2010. That year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants featured five starting pitchers who went at least seven innings. Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum both twirled eight-inning gems in Games 4 and 5 to secure the crown for the Giants.
During last year’s postseason, Hyde’s first as the Orioles’ manager, no starting pitcher retired a batter in the eighth inning. The 2023 Fall Classic between the Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks featured only one starter completing seven innings. The Diamondbacks went without a starter and instead used six relievers in Game 4. The average start for the Rangers en route to the title was under five innings.
Over 14 years, the pitching landscape in baseball has so wildly shifted to put more emphasis and pressure on playoff teams’ bullpens. That’s why the biggest question facing the Orioles this October might be: Can their shaky bullpen hold up?
“We have a lot of good stuff down there,” Hyde said Monday at Camden Yards ahead of Game 1 of the American League wild-card series on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. “I do have a lot of options down there.”
Hyde pulled ace Kyle Bradish in the fifth inning of the AL Division Series opener last year, and one of his relievers gave up a solo homer that was the deciding run. His other two starters pitched so poorly that Hyde had no choice but to pull them in the second inning — the main reason Baltimore was swept by the Rangers in that series.
This year, Hyde has two veteran starters with postseason experience in ace Corbin Burnes and trade deadline acquisition Zach Eflin. Burnes will take the ball in Game 1 on Tuesday, while Eflin is expected to start Wednesday. While both are capable of going deep into games, the postseason headwinds could lead Hyde to play the matchups — gaining platoon advantages by bringing in one of his four left-handed relievers — earlier than normal.
That “mix-and-match” strategy is how Hyde has repeatedly managed his bullpen since taking over as manager in 2019. More often than not, those decisions have paid off, but no strategy is foolproof — especially with how much Baltimore’s bullpen has struggled recently.
The Orioles had an average bullpen in the first half, but they’ve had one of the majors’ worst since. The unit has pitched to a 4.81 ERA since the All-Star break to rank 27th in the majors, although those numbers are inflated by ex-closer Craig Kimbrel’s dreadful second half that caused the club to release him. It was even worse in September with a 5.31 ERA to rank 29th, while the Royals’ bullpen posted a 2.77 ERA (fifth in MLB) in the final month.
The main culprits in September were Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez and Cionel Pérez. Cano managed forearm soreness to post a 6.43 ERA in seven innings. After converting his first nine save opportunities, Domínguez allowed five runs across his final 4 1/3 innings of the regular season. And Pérez, Hyde’s go-to lefty specialist, is coming off his worst month of the season, allowing nine earned runs in nine frames.
Domínguez’s difficulties have reopened the ninth-inning role even more. After Kimbrel was removed from the job, Domínguez took over and pitched well, although he was never formally named the team’s closer after the Orioles acquired him at the trade deadline. He’s still perhaps the most likely to receive the ball in the ninth given his postseason success (1.13 ERA in 16 innings with the Philadelphia Phillies), but if the Royals have a few left-handed hitters due up, Hyde could very well go with one of his four southpaws to slam the door.
“It’s kind of however I get there,” Hyde said. “Try to piece it together and try to match up in the seventh, eighth, ninth inning how we see fit. … A lot of trust in a lot of those guys. Seranthony’s pitched in big games in the postseason and has nine or 10 saves for us. Soto’s been a closer. Cionel’s got really, really good stuff. And Yeni’s got that sinker. There’s some options down there.”
Aside from Pérez, Hyde was encouraged by the way his lefties pitched down the stretch. Keegan Akin, the Orioles’ most valuable reliever by FanGraphs’ wins above replacement, posted a 2.38 ERA. Danny Coulombe returned from his elbow injury and tossed four scoreless outings. And Gregory Soto, whom the Orioles acquired at the deadline, continued his dominance after his rough start in Baltimore. Soto allowed eight runs in his first 1 1/3 innings with the Orioles. In 16 1/3 innings since, he’s allowed only two earned runs with 20 strikeouts versus four walks.
“They’re all a little bit different. It’s not lefties with similar stuff. All four guys kind of bring something different to the table, and I like that,” Hyde said. “I like that we have different options. Certain guys can get lefties and righties out. The more guys you can have like that, it makes it tough on the opposing manager — that’s ideal.”
During the regular season, Hyde rarely pitches relievers on three straight days. He knows a 162-game season is grueling, and overusing a pitcher in the spring could come back to bite later in the fall.
Now that it’s the postseason, though, that philosophy goes out the window with the potential of three games in three days this week against the Royals.
“This is more of a sprint,” Hyde said. “I’m not looking long term. This is trying to win two of these three games.”
Around the horn
• Hyde said the Orioles are “still discussing” how to structure their roster ahead of Tuesday’s series opener. He also said they haven’t decided who will start Game 2 or Game 3. When asked if the result of Game 1 could impact who starts Game 2, Hyde responded: “It could.”
• Eloy Jiménez and Félix Bautista took part in the Orioles’ workout at Camden Yards on Monday. Jiménez accepted his option to the minors last week but is still on the 40-man roster and is eligible for the postseason roster. Bautista is working his way back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, and general manager Mike Elias has already stated the 6-foot-8 closer will not return this season.
Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 443-537-7532 or @jcalvinmeyer on X.
