The Orioles rounded out their major league staff for the 2025 season Monday, announcing the addition of former catcher Robinson Chirinos as bench coach and the promotion of Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton as a coach in Baltimore.

Britton and Chirinos are the final pieces of a staff that has come together over the last month. Apart from them, Baltimore confirmed the moves to make Cody Asche the hitting coach, Tommy Joseph an assistant hitting coach and Sherman Johnson an assistant hitting coach and upper-level hitting coordinator.

They will serve under manager Brandon Hyde, who enters his seventh season.

The move to add Chirinos, a first-time coach, as bench coach comes as a surprise. He replaces a very experienced former manager in Fredi González in that role. González was seen as second in command to Hyde, providing insight to a first-time manager from his time leading the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Now Chirinos will be in a major leadership role as a coach. But it isn’t his first time as a leader in Baltimore’s clubhouse.

Chirinos spent one season in Baltimore, but he made a large impact on an organization at the beginning of its ascent. Chirinos was signed, in large part, for his clubhouse presence. He brought leadership to a young group and served an especially important role as catcher Adley Rutschman’s mentor during his rookie year.

Chirinos also served as a guest coach during 2024 spring training, and over the last two seasons, his return to the ballpark as a guest was met with throngs of players and coaches giving him hugs. The catcher played 11 seasons in the majors, beginning with the Tampa Bay Rays and ending with the Orioles.

A move into coaching has long been on Chirinos’ mind. In an interview with The Baltimore Banner last year, he said it would be a dream to return to the majors in such a role.

“Maybe in the future, I don’t know what God have for me, I would love to be a manager in the big leagues,” Chirinos said. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I care for people. I know about the game. To be able to continue to help people through the managing side I think is something I would love to do. But we’ll see.”

At the time, Hyde said of Chirinos: “Just the way he stood up in meetings, his presence, his dugout talk, I miss that. I miss having him around.”

Britton’s addition to the major league staff seemed a long time coming. The 38-year-old spent the last three years managing Triple-A Norfolk, and he also has managed Double-A Bowie and Single-A Delmarva since 2018. With the Tides, he led many of the players who have since broken through to the majors, including Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson.

During Henderson’s Home Run Derby, Britton served as the pitcher.

“I spent a lot of time with Buck at the minor league level and then at spring training,” Henderson said in July. “He was pumped up for it, and I’m looking forward to doing it with him.”

Britton led the Tides to a Triple-A national championship in 2023 and earned the Orioles’ Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award in 2021 and 2023.

The rest of Hyde’s staff remains the same, with pitching coach Drew French returning for a second year. His assistant, Mitch Plassmeyer, also returns. Tim Cossins (major league field coordinator and catching instructor), Ryan Klimek (pitching strategy coach), Anthony Sanders (first base coach), Tony Mansolino (third base coach) and Grant Anders (major league development coach) are all back, too.