Orioles have changed pitching coaches 13 times in 17 years

In the wake of Mark Connor resigning yesterday for personal reasons Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun note that by replacing him with Rick Adair the Orioles have now changed pitching coaches 13 times in 17 years.

A couple guys have held the job twice during that span, but Connolly raises a good point by asking: “How can you expect a staff to be consistent when there is so much turnover with its direct supervisor?”

Obviously changing pitching coaches a bunch of times in 1990s doesn’t have any impact on the current Orioles’ pitching staff, but ditching Leo Mazzone after two years and then going through three different guys in the following four seasons certainly does.

Opening Day starter Jeremy Guthrie was more upset about specifically losing Connor than about the team’s revolving door at pitching coach:

Anything can affect a team for the better or worse so there’s no telling which way it will go. For us, we’re just losing someone we care for and we hope the best for him and the things he needs to handle. For me, some guys you work well with, other guys you don’t work as well with. That’s the most important thing. The transition itself isn’t too difficult. It’s, “How does the working relationship go?” And that’s something we’ll go through now with Rick as the pitching coach.

Adair is Guthrie’s fourth pitching coach in five seasons with the Orioles.