The Baltimore Orioles made some moves in their coaching staff with a view to next season and the most significant of them was the hiring of Venezuelan Robinson Chirinos as bench coach of the organization towards the 2025 harvest of the Major Leagues.
Chirinos, a former catcher with extensive experience in the MLB, will serve as manager Brandon Hyde’s right-hand man in the next campaign, which will mean the Creole’s return to the currency with which he played his last contest in the best baseball in the world in 2022 .
The 40-year-old veteran played 11 seasons in the big top, also defending the uniforms of the Rays, Rangers, Astros, Mets and Cubs.
Although the native of Punto Fijo does not have previous experience as a coach at any level of organized baseball, the Orioles were left with a great image of Chirinos from his time as a player for the team. Previously, Hyde had indicated that he saw a future as an instructor on the Venezuelan’s horizon.
Chirinos will take the place of Fredi González, who left the team after five years as a member of its coaching staff, including three of them as bench coach.
One more for a club on the rise
Although no other Venezuelan has enjoyed the success of Oswaldo Guillén as a manager in the majors since the Mirandino was crowned World Series champion with the White Sox in 2005, Carlos Mendoza was very close in this last contest, in which he led led the Mets to the ALCS in his first year as the club’s manager.
Mendoza, who had previously served as a bench coach for the neighboring Yankees, is, without a doubt, the Creole with the best position on a bench in the majors today, but others like Omar López, right-hand man of manager Joe Espada with the Astros, Miguel Cairo (bench instructor) with the Nationals or Eduardo Pérez himself (Major League coach) with the Braves, have also compiled the necessary arguments to eventually become full-time managers in the “Big Show”.
