Analyzing what Tony Mansolino brings as Orioles manager

Working on the fifth floor of the warehouse in right field at Orioles Park at Camden Yards has its perks. Chief among them is the view staring down into one of the best ballparks in baseball.

With that view, you can see a great many things, from player warmups to the grounds crew hard at work. Oftentimes, over the last few seasons, you would probably see one coach there earlier than the rest: Tony Mansolino.

"Manso," as he's often referred to, had plenty of responsibilities before becoming the Orioles' interim manager after their decision to dismiss Brandon Hyde. Many came with his family, where Mansolino could often be seen in the outfield practicing fly balls with his kids. He does much of the same work, fungo bat and ball in hand, with some older and slightly more experienced ballplayers in the major leagues.

Prior to Saturday's abrupt change in responsibilities, Mansolino had served as the O's third-base coach and was responsible for much of the work in the infield. He can be credited, in part, with helping to develop the defense of Ryan Mountcastle's golden-caliber first-base glove and Jackson Holliday's transition to the other side of the second base bag.

Mansolino, a Vanderbilt product, was a 26th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005. He brings plenty of experience around the game, as his father, Doug, was an MLB coach for 15 years, and now serves as an advisor for the Atlanta Braves. Tony didn't spend much time in the minors as a player, but was a manager on the farm as recently as 2019.

The extent to which the third-base coach turned interim manager will shake things up remains to be seen. Mansolino has credited his breakthrough into Major League Baseball to his former skipper, Hyde, and will keep much of Hyde's tutelage in mind as he embarks on a new role. There certainly haven't been any drastic changes yet.

"Not excited," Mansolino told Baltimore media in his first appearance as interim manager. "This isn't a good thing for us. We're going to miss Brandon in a lot of ways. To me, he did a good job here ... it's not something that any of us wanted, by any means."

Becoming Baltimore's interim manager was far from top of mind for the newly appointed Mansolino. But at 15-31, this is the position the Orioles find themselves in. Their new man at the helm is tasked with navigating through it.

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