Brandon Hyde’s comments on Orioles firing point blame everywhere but on himself

On Thursday, former manager Brandon Hyde spoke for the first time since he was fired from the Baltimore Orioles. Until this point, Hyde had kept a pretty low profile which was pretty wise given how quickly he had lost goodwill from the fans.

While he had a lot to say about a lot of different things in relation to his tenure with the Baltimore Orioles, he was notably quiet about his own impact on the Orioles. Hyde’s comments came during his appearance on MLB Now, which is an MLB Network show hosted by personality Brian Kenny. And it was a lot of him stating the obvious when it came to his dismissal. 

Brandon Hyde clearly thinks the Orioles' struggles had little to do with him

“We just had a tough time winning games,” Hyde said (h/t to the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka for drawing attention to the interview). “We had three really good years. You go back where we exceeded a ton of expectations in ’22 and ’23, and in ’24, we were the first team to 70 wins last year, and then we had a ton of injuries late in the year and we got bounced out of the postseason, scoring one run against the Royals in two games. That was disappointing. And then just had a tough start to the year this year, and they felt like they had to make a change.”

That change was probably the right one to make, as the Orioles limped out to a 15-28 start and routinely looked overmatched both in the batter’s box and on the pitching mound. Which, coupled with injuries, proved to be too much for the Orioles (and Hyde) to overcome. 

While it’s impossible to tell the story of the Orioles without talking about injuries, there’s a bit more to it than that. Nearly every young player on the roster took a step back early in the season, and they just seemed to lack any bite. 

Although the losses have continued to pile up under interim manager Tony Mansolino, the Orioles have played a bit better under him and have a renewed focus despite selling off numerous pieces off their major league roster at the trade deadline. 

One player who he spoke emphatically about was catcher Adley Rutschman, who hit the injured list for the time in his career this year and is also beginning to find his name in trade rumors for the first time in his career. 

“I know that he carries a heavy load, and he puts a lot of pressure on himself, and he’s a great, great person,” Hyde said of Rutschman.

At one point not that long ago, it looked like Hyde and Rutschman were going to be two key pieces of the Orioles’ next contention window. But now Hyde’s elsewhere and it looks like there’s a chance Rutschman could be too. 

“I think he’s going to be that,” Hyde said when asked if Rutschman could be a star. "Maybe just a little bit of a tough year for him.”

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