Evaluating Craig Albernaz as Orioles’ manager | MAILBAG

Question:  From a fan’s standpoint, I don’t have a lot of faith in Craig Albernaz like I did with Brandon Hyde (even through those 100-loss seasons) and especially with Buck Showalter. Both of them had a way that made me think they knew absolutely what they were doing, which made suffering some of those managerial losses more acceptable.

As a fan, I expect more out of a manager, and I don’t see that from Albernaz. I know he’s a rookie, but this team had huge expectations when he was hired. (They still do.) Perhaps a more experienced manager would have been a better hire? From: Todd Baham

Answer: Todd, I’ve received a number of critical questions about Craig Albernaz, including from Chris Rubacky and Edward Kalita.

First, I would be astounded if the Orioles fired Albernaz after just one season, as Edward suggests.

I don’t know how much of the team’s underperformance can be attributed to Albernaz.

However, I think he’s improved as a manager, particularly in the six weeks since the trade deadline.

The Orioles are 21-20 since then and have generally been competitive in most games. The only exception was last Sunday’s 8-1 loss in Toronto.

There have been fewer errors and fewer fundamental mistakes in recent weeks, too.

I think he’s done a good job in managing the bullpen and getting the best out of inexperienced major league relievers, Josh Walker, Cam Sanders, Alex Hoppe and Luis De León.

The Orioles haven’t had a legitimate closer, and I think he’s maneuvered around that.

I think he sometimes overplays the left/right matchup, but I think that with all the injuries they’ve had, he hasn’t done badly.

If you look at the managers hired for this season, only Skip Schumaker with Texas, Minnesota’s Derek Shelton and Atlanta’s Walt Weiss had managed other teams. Other teams, including the Angels (Kurt Suzuki), Giants (Tony Vitello), Padres (Craig Stammen) and Nationals (Blake Butera) hadn’t coached or managed in the big leagues.

Albernaz was considered a logical choice by many in baseball because he had experience working in progressive organizations — Tampa Bay, Cleveland and San Francisco.

I’m eager to see how different a manager he’ll be in 2027 when there will be higher expectations in his second year.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.