SARASOTA, Fla. — The Orioles’ major offseason addition on their coaching staff arrived in the form of 39-year-old Drew French. A fast-riser in the coaching ranks, French started his career in the Houston Astros’ minor league system, earning promotions in three straight seasons before landing with the Atlanta Braves as their bullpen coach in 2021.
He spent three seasons in Atlanta, earning a World Series ring for their 2021 run and playing a significant role in the career resurgences of relief arms such as Jesse Chavez and Kirby Yates. French now joins a Baltimore organization stocked with many familiar names.
Here’s an excerpt from a conversation with French from Friday morning.
Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
What are some of your key philosophies as a pitching coach?
“Man, making these guys believe in themselves. I think that’s kind of where it all starts and developing a system of belief and confidence and what kind of ties that to each individual player, and so I think that’s probably like the foundation and then just delivering messages and information at the right place at the right time for the right guy. So, I think everything sort of branches off of those two big two big limbs for me.”
You overlapped with Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias in Houston. How well did you two know each other?
“We didn’t have a ton to do with each other during those times. Sig [Mejdal, now the Orioles’ vice president and assistant GM] was probably the one member of the front office that I was most closely connected to because in 2018, his last year in Houston, I was in Buies Creek, North Carolina, which was really close to his home. So, we got to see him a bunch. But yeah, I met Eve [Rosenbaum, assistant GM] one time before getting here and Mike a couple times. So, there wasn’t a ton of overlap just in terms of us crossing paths while we were there, however, we were there for a little while together.”
When you look back on winning the World Series with the Braves, what are you most proud of?
“I think just how we held it together. We were, I don’t recall, it felt like we were about 10 games under .500 at the All-Star Break and just kind of written off and left for dead and the consistency and I think probably the No. 1 thing that I learned in Atlanta was how these coaches and how [manager Brian Snitker] showed up every day, emotional consistency, just messaging energy. It’s a long season, man. You can’t ride the roller coaster with the players. So, just the consistency in which they showed up every day knowing it was a long season, I think really, really benefited us and the ability to perform really well, especially starting in August and all the way through the World Series.”
While you were the bullpen coach in Atlanta, the Braves developed a reputation for signing journeymen relievers and helping the find success. How were you able to do unlock those pitchers’ potential?
“I think culture and environment was a humongous piece of it, if not, more than 50%. I think guys are comfortable in their own skin when they get there. They’re allowed to be themselves. There’s a lot of freedom and a lot of professionalism inside of that organization. But, the clubhouse, the players, the trainers, just everybody really, as cliche as it might be, it seemed was just pulling the rope in the same direction. It seemed like there was a ton of continuity and a ton of buy-in to the Braves way. I think guys were really comfortable there and I think when you have a happy player and a comfortable player, you’re going to get a consistent performing player.”
What drew you to the Orioles?
“It seems like a really good blend of the two places that I’ve been before. It seems like the Astros married the Braves and the Orioles were the baby. It just seems like a really good marriage of the two, which I’m comfortable living in both of those worlds. So, it’s really kind of neat to see it come to fruition and feel that way personally for me because I had such great experience at both places before here.”
This is the fourth time you’ve succeeded now-full time Orioles director of pitching Chris Holt after following in his footsteps throughout the Astros’ minor league system. How does this keep happening?
“It’s never been planned. It’s maybe good fortune. However, Holt and I have been friends long before pro ball for both of us. So, it’s nothing short of amazing what they were able to do here … what happened in ’22 and ’23 is nothing short of amazing and they laid the foundation for the steps that these guys have taken especially on the pitching side. The young rotation and the Grayson Rodriguez’s and the Dean Kremer’s and the Tyler Wells’ of the world, you’re just trying to try to keep the line moving, so to speak. So, I don’t know how we’ve been so fortunate to follow similar paths. However, what they were able to accomplish here over the last couple of years and just setting the foundation on the pitching side when getting to Baltimore is something to tip your hat at.”
As far as the rotation goes, who’s impressed you the most in camp?
“I’ve been really, really impressed with just about all of them. On any given day, I feel like we’ve checked some boxes, we moved the needle for all of them. I’m really excited about where Dean is at. I’m really excited about where Tyler is at, Grayson, Corbin Burnes, obviously. But I think we might be doing a disservice to ourselves if we don’t mention what Cole Irvin has looked like at this point. Really, really impressed with the first conversation I ever had with him and his transparency and his ability just to kind of tell you, ‘This is what it is.’ And then the decisions that he made this offseason to go home and just kick off training pretty much immediately and get to work and you can see the fruits of that labor in his in his first outing against Pittsburgh and looking forward to seeing him go again Saturday against New York.”
How about the bullpen?
“I think on any given day, there’s probably 12 to 15 of those guys that you really like and so it’s going to be interesting to see what this battle to the end looks like but I’ve been really impressed with the depth and the complimentary way that these guys, just in terms of their strengths and their stuff, I think we have a lot of complementary pieces to give teams different looks. That’s what’s exciting for me.”
Grapefruit League
Yankees at Orioles
Saturday, 1:05 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM