Questions for new Orioles manager Craig Albernaz

Oriole fans will get to hear from new manager Craig Albernaz on Tuesday when he’s officially introduced. Albernaz comes from the Cleveland Guardians, where he was bench coach in 2024 and associate manager in 2025. There are lots of questions about him, and here are some that might be answered:

What are your impressions of the team?

The Guardians played the Orioles seven times, three in April in Baltimore and four in Cleveland, before the trade deadline in July. Since Albernaz didn’t see the Orioles the last months of the season, his in-person looks were incomplete.

Cleveland trains in Arizona so he didn’t get a look at their prospects in the spring. Surely he’s watched lots of tape in the last week so he’s getting current on them.

How can the team’s offensive performance be improved?

Albernaz has seen the Orioles’ primary players — Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg — and it will be interesting to hear his impressions.

He was a catcher in the minor leagues, and his thoughts on Rutschman will be important.

Does he believe in playing small ball?

The Guardians sacrificed seven times more often than the Orioles did in 2025. While 28 isn’t a large number, the Orioles bunted only four times.

What about the Orioles’ overall hitting approach?

The Guardians managed to win the American League Central even though they scored the third-fewest runs in baseball, 643. Cleveland’s .226 batting average was the second lowest in baseball.

The Orioles had the fourth-most strikeouts in baseball, 1,457, and their batting average of .235 wasn’t much better than the Guardians.

One area the Orioles didn’t do badly in was in one-run games. They were 27-24, but in games decided by five or more runs, they were awful: 14-35.

What does Albernaz think of the Orioles’ starters?

The Guardians were tied for the fourth-best ERA in the majors, 3.70, while the Orioles were tied for fifth worst, 4.60. That’s nearly a run per game, and that’s huge.

However, the starters who finished the year with the Orioles weren’t the ones who started. Only Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano, who isn’t likely to return, started and finished the year in the rotation.

Trevor Rogers didn’t become part of the rotation until mid-June, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells combined for 10 starts and Grayson Rodriguez didn’t pitch at all.

Another difference between Baltimore and Cleveland was that Orioles pitching allowed 217 home runs, fourth highest in baseball while the Guardians gave up 169, sixth fewest.

How reliant on analytics will you be?

Albernaz is reportedly an analytics devotee, and that will fit well with president of baseball operations Mike Elias and assistant general manager Sig Mejdal.

The Orioles weren’t going to hire a manager who wasn’t current with analytics, and Albernaz should work well with this front office.

What are some examples of the type of leadership you’ll provide?

While I’ve been offering lots of statistics on the 2025 Guardians, the Orioles have different personnel and play in a different ballpark. Stephen Vogt, whom Albernaz has coached under, has been given high marks, but we don’t know what lessons he’ll take from him, and how he’ll lead a team.

Is he a manager who likes to get close to players? Can he be the same person when his team loses five in a row as he is when they’re hot?

Does he believe in veteran leadership?

Both the Guardians and Orioles are relatively young, but the Orioles don’t have a veteran leader. Cleveland has a superstar, José Ramirez and a veteran backup catcher, Austin Hedges, who doesn’t have great stats but has intangibles.

Are players like Hedges important to add to the clubhouse, and can Henderson be the Orioles’ Ramirez?

What will your coaching staff look like?

So far, at least four of the Orioles’ coaches won’t be back, bench coach Robinson Chirinos, first base coach Anthony Sanders and assistant hitting coaches, Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson.

There will probably be a few holdovers, perhaps third base coach Buck Britton and senior advisor John Mabry among them.

We haven’t heard anything about pitching coaches. The Guardians have one of the game’s best, Carl Willis, and he’s not coming here.

Kremer, who arrived in 2020, has already worked under three pitching coaches, Doug Brocail, Chris Holt and for the last two seasons, Drew French.

French was credited with helping Rogers this season, but Albernaz will have his own ideas on pitching.

The guess here is that Albernaz will be able to choose a few coaches, work with some holdovers and work with the front office to fill out the staff.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.