Calling the Pen: Orioles’ Albernaz went too far in his criticism of Jeremiah Jackson

Back in April, Jeremiah Jackson hit a foul ball into the Orioles’ dugout that broke the jaw of manager Craig Albernaz. The Orioles would go on to win that game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on a grand slam by Jackson. As much as he was hurting, Albernaz returned to the dugout to congratulate Jackson and assure him that he was okay.

It was a classy move by a manager who showed his toughness and tenderness.

On Sunday night, Jackson swung at the first pitch he saw from the Brewers’ Chad Patrick and grounded to first to end the sixth inning. The Orioles had loaded the bases and Patrick was slightly wild — a hit batter, two walks and two wild pitches added up to nine pitches out of the strike zone. The Orioles would go on to lose by shutout, 3-0, for the second straight game, and Albernaz showed neither toughness nor tenderness — just frustration.

“Swinging, bases loaded after nine pitches not in the strike zone was shocking and, like, I’m embarrassed. Like that’s not winning baseball. That’s not baseball, period,” Albernaz said.

“You would gather that that’s something that you would learn along the way. Not in professional baseball, just in baseball in general. But ultimately that falls on me because he swung. And that’s something that will be addressed moving forward. And also, this standard has to be high to win baseball games here and that also is going to be addressed, as well.”

It marked the second straight game that Albernaz criticized a player publicly.

On Saturday, in a 1-0 loss that wasted a dominant performance by Trevor Rogers, rightfielder Rece Hinds lost a fly ball by the Brewers’ Joey Ortiz in the sun, turning a routine play into a triple. Ortiz, a former Oriole, scored the game’s only run.

“He didn’t have sunglasses at all,” Albernaz said. “And the sun was in right field. Pretty frustrating … it was overcast to start, but it was a 4 o’clock game. I thought you would have some sunglasses.”

The 43-year-old first-year manager had made a point of protecting his players rather than publicly humiliating them, even though they’ve underperformed in a 75-81 season. They had remained in the wild-card race because of a mediocre American League, but they haven’t played like a playoff team and are likely headed for their second straight losing season and last-place finish in the AL East.

Before Saturday’s game, president of baseball operations Mike Elias said that Albernaz would be returning for the 2027 season. The Orioles were coming off a tough 6-5 loss to the Brewers in 10 innings after a couple of debatable decisions by Albernaz and couldn’t manage a run in the final two games of a Brewers sweep.

Albernaz seemed worn down on Sunday night, but he went beyond expressing his frustration with a team that wasn’t ready for prime time. He took his frustrations out on a player to the point that it made me wonder if he would regret what he said for coming down so hard on Jackson when he hasn’t expressed a similar reaction to mistakes by his stars.

On Monday, though, he moved on during his pregame news conference, again citing a renewed emphasis to higher standards with six games left in the season but no mention of Jackson. He also wasn’t asked about Sunday night’s comments.

Maybe it was way of showing the competitive fire that fans have accused him of lacking. And I get that these are professional players who shouldn’t wilt under criticism. But I was hoping Albernaz would at least acknowledge if not apologize for a takedown of a player whose foul ball showed an impressive side of his character back in April. He didn’t show that same side this time.