Deciphering Orioles’ bullpen strategy under Albernaz | MAILBAG

Question: My question for you is about bullpen management. I feel that when Buck was manager and even more recently Brandon Hyde, I understood the respective strengths, weaknesses and roles of the respective relievers. With reasonable accuracy I could forecast bullpen management and use decisions. They comported with my logical sense, honed through years of not only observations as a fan but experiences playing Statis-Pro and Stratomatic.

Alby, in contrast, is mystifying in his choices of which reliever to use when. Seemingly as often as not, he ignores matchups, game situations, track records, etc.  His choices seem random. I know this is professional baseball and thus I assume they are not random but less commonly seen or interpreted logic. Other than possibly concealing an injury no one wants to disclose to an opponent, what governs who is used when that transcends the obvious? From: Mark Eisner

Answer: Mark, that’s an interesting question. Showalter had some outstanding relievers with track records: Zack Britton, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach and Mychal Givens.

In 2023, Hyde had Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez and Danny Coulombe, all of whom were consistently excellent.

When you have terrific relievers like this, and they regularly perform well, it’s easy to understand bullpen usage.

Albernaz doesn’t have anyone on the active roster with the stuff of Bautista, Brach, Britton or O’Day.

He has Cano, who until last week had been outstanding, but for more than a month, the Orioles have been missing Ryan Helsley, who’s an established closer.

As a result, he decided that both Rico Garcia and Anthony Nunez would be closers. He also uses Cano in important spots, but that’s primarily against right-handers, and not in the ninth inning.

Two of the relievers he probably wanted to use in high-leverage situations are Andrew Kittredge, who’s had an outstanding career but has been disappointing this season, and Tyler Wells, who also has been inconsistent.

Without Helsley and with some of his relievers being erratic, his bullpen management appears hard to understand. I admit that I also sometimes find it hard to decipher.

Helsley hopes to get back later this month, and once Albernaz has a clear closer again, perhaps his moves will be easier to understand.

Question:  I’m just wondering why the O’s lost patience with Jorge Mateo. To me, he was the ideal backup infielder.  He was a terrific defender and has outstanding speed. I realize he was hurt the last couple years, but I believe it was no fault of his own. Didn’t someone accidentally hit him with a bat in the on-deck circle? And I also remember a teammate running into him on the field. I checked on him today. He hit his fourth home run as a DH for the high-flying Atlanta Braves and has done well at the plate all season. You would know better than me, but he seemed like a wonderful young man. From: Bill Nelson

Answer: Bill, it often happens that players do better with a change of scenery. I always enjoyed talking with Jorge, and he was certainly a good teammate.

However, let’s look at his record with the Orioles. In five seasons, he hit .224. In 2023, he was off to a terrific start, hitting six homers, driving in 17 runs and hitting .347 with a 1.062 OPS through April 30^th. After that, he hit one homer, drove in 17 runs and finished the year with a .217 average.

In 2024 and 2025, he played just 110 games.

I was actually surprised the Orioles picked up Mateo’s option for 2025, and while he might have helped with the injuries to Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg, he had a hard time staying on the field in his last two years.

Yes, he collided with Gunnar Henderson and needed Tommy John surgery in 2024, and again with Heston Kjerstad in the outfield last year. During last year’s rehab, Mateo had a significant hamstring injury that cost him much of the season. I wasn’t surprised that the Orioles didn’t re-sign him.   

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.