Baltimore Orioles: Doug Brocail reportedly hired as O’s next pitching coach

The Baltimore Orioles have reportedly filled another opening on the major league coaching staff, bringing in former Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail

Doug Brocail is reportedly set to be the next pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles, according to Dan Connolly of The Athletic. MASN Sports’ Roch Kubatko confirmed the hire on Tuesday evening.

Connolly tweeted out early Tuesday afternoon that Brocail is slated to take over for Roger McDowell, who held the position from November of 2016 through the end of the 2018 season.

Brocail is a former first round draft pick of the San Diego Padres. Chosen in the 1986 amateur draft, Brocail was a moderately effective reliever for the better part of 15 seasons in the majors, spanning from 1992-2009.

After his playing career, Brocail transitioned to coaching, finding himself in a role with the Houston Astros organization in 2011, same as current Orioles’ General Manager Mike Elias.

Are you seeing a theme here, Orioles fans?

Brocail worked as the pitching coach in Houston from 2011-2013 before becoming a special assistant to Astros’ General Manager Jeff Luhnow.

In 2016, Brocail was hired by the Texas Rangers, again as a major league pitching coach, and he worked in Texas through the end of this past season.

Brocail isn’t the first new Orioles’ hire to have connections to manager Brandon Hyde and Mike Elias.

In addition to Brocail, Hyde has brought in Tim Cossins, Jose Flores, and most recently, Don Long.

Hyde worked with both Cossins and Flores in Chicago. Long, who worked with the Reds, was a long-time rival of Hyde’s in the NL Central.

Outside of Koby Perez, the O’s new international scouting director, the Orioles haven’t officially announced any coaching staff hires. Perez coincidentally has ties to Mike Elias from their days in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Assuming that Brocail, Cossins, Flores, and Long are coming aboard however, the Orioles have four major league coaching positions filled.

It’s also been rumored that the Orioles were interested in former Red Sox first-base coach and Marlins Triple-A manager Arnie Beyeler, and Roch Kubatko has suggested that John Wasdin, who has served as the O’s minor league pitching coach could transition to the bullpen coaching role in Baltimore.

When guys work in the baseball industry for a long time, they inevitably cross paths and work together. But you can’t discount the connections these coaches have with each other. Brandon Hyde is busy bringing in his guys, trying to build a sustainable, winning system in Baltimore.

Hyde, Cossins and Flores had success in Chicago, eventually winning a World Series title in 2017, and Beyeler won a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013.

Long has had success as the Reds hitting coach, specifically working with Joey Votto, but also with under-the-radar guys like Eugenio Suarez, Scooter Gennett, and Adam Duvall.

The Baltimore Orioles 2019 coaching staff is almost set, and the organization could make these reported hires official in the near future. How big a role these coaches will actually play is to be determined, but they feel like good moves at the moment.