SARASOTA—The 2013 Durham Bulls were full of big-name players. There was Tim Beckham, a onetime first overall draft pick; Wil Myers, who was promoted to the Tampa Bay Rays and won the Rookie of the Year despite playing just 88 games; future four-time Gold Glove centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier; and three pitchers — Chris Archer, Jake Odorozzi and Kirby Yates, who combined for five All-Star Game selections.
There was also a 30-year-old catcher nearing the end of his playing career, Craig Albernaz.
“Pretty much the same guy. The personality, the timing, the candidness, he’s an open book,” Jason Bourgeois said.
Bourgeois was a teammate of Albernaz’s on the Bulls, and 13 years later, he was hired by his old friend as the Orioles’ first base base and outfield coach.
“That team was pretty special if you go back and look at the roster,” Bourgeois said. “It was a bunch of egos, a bunch of talent and just a bunch of guys who were having fun, but he stuck out as one who really set the tone, leadership-wise, vocally and just by the example he went out and played. It’s no surprise to any of us that he’s in the position that he’s in now.”
The 43-year-old Bourgeois had an eight-year major league career, playing 317 games with Houston, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Milwaukee and the Rays, never playing 100 games in a season.
Along with infield coach Miguel Cairo, who had a 17-year career with nine teams, Bourgeois has major league playing experience, which nine of Albernaz’s coaches do not.
“It’s not about me anymore, but my experience, yes, I can relate,” Bourgeois said. “It’s never about how I did it and what I would have done, more of how I would have fixed those issues as a coach now, and the perspective that I have now is a lot different from then.
“I might chime in if I have something in common, but right now, it’s about that player — how does he learn, what does he need and how can we meet halfway?”
This is Bourgeois’ second major league coaching job. He was the first base coach for the White Sox in 2024 and 2025. Albernaz raves about Bourgeois’ creativity, how he uses footballs and tennis rackets and balls to teach quickness and agility.
“It’s getting different ball flights and reads, catching the footballs that open up their hips and track the ball like in the game,” he said. “It’s the conversations with him. That’s the biggest thing that we pride ourselves on is player’s feedback and that’s something JB believes in as well, the way he can have those conversations with the players and also take what’s happening on the back fields.”
The Orioles’ outfield has veterans Tyler O’Neill and Tayor Ward, third-year player Colton Cowser, and Dylan Beavers, still technically a rookie.
Bourgeois remembers watching Beavers late last season when the Orioles played in Chicago. Beavers was about a month into his major league career, a lanky 6 feet 5.
“I looked at him, like ‘Who’s this little baby giraffe out there playing the outfield?’ Now his core is more stable, more stability with his offseason workouts. It’s kind of allowed him to tap into some of his attributes. That top speed is there, now can we hone in on the little things, decision-making, spatial awareness of going back on balls, playing free and actually maximizing on the athletic capabilities that he has.”
Cowser, who was a Gold Glove finalist in left field in 2024, could also be a top-shelf fielder in center.
“When you have the history that he has in the outfield, with the intangibles and now the experience of getting his feet wet in center field, he’s going to be phenomenal out there,” Bourgeois said. “Because he’s bought into the process. The process is having the spatial awareness, not being afraid to take your eye off the ball, being vocal. He’s bought into it, even here in spring training, his pace of play during his practice setting has been awesome.”
Cowser likes his new coach’s philosophy.
“We’ve just been harping on reaction, and I think communicating with the corner guys, getting used to that,” Cowser said. “Me and Ward have been talking a lot, me and Beavers as well emphasizing when we’re playing in … understanding you can get to that ball from way back in the track, and that goes for all three of us. It’s been figuring out where we’re starting and where we’re ending and having great reactions.”
Bourgeois didn’t have much time to work with Enrique Bradfield Jr. before he went off to the World Baseball Classic to play for Panama, but that time left an impression.
“There was nothing not to like about him on a defensive front,” Bourgeois said. “The speed is one thing, the adjustability, the willingness to change, to slow things down. To see that speed component out there, it can get in the head of a player. Plays can be overplayed at moments.
“I think his clock is starting to really come to form when it comes to decision-making, angles and just all around, this guy has a chance to really stick out in the outfield.”
Bradfield will start his season with Triple-A Norfolk, but Blaze Alexander won’t. Alexander will play at second and third while second baseman Jackson Holliday and third baseman Jordan Westburg are out, and when they return, he’ll play all over.
Alexander has played just 28 major league innings in the outfield, and he’s getting work there in Grapefruit League games. He’s shown off his athleticism, especially last Saturday when he leaped over the center-field fence to retrieve the glove he’d misplaced while trying for a catch.
Bourgeois didn’t get to see that play because he was coaching an Orioles split-squad game in North Port, but Alexander’s raw talent sticks out.
“That’s the one thing we can’t mimic a lot of, game-play,” he said. “Experience will show up. He going to have some plays that some people might scratch their heads on. He’s probably going to make some plays, probably in the 20 to 30 probability range that no one else gets to.
“I love where he is right now. He’s committed to the process. You’re going to see some special stuff from him, but right now it’s getting him up to speed on situational awareness.”
It’s been a quick few weeks for Bourgeois, who has enjoyed his time in camp.
“It’s been a month, and it’s felt like a year already,” he said. “These guys have caught me up to speed on so much, internally with their system, with the personnel, with the conversations that started in the offseason, and now in spring where things are starting to come together as far as the blueprint.”
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