The Orioles have a new pitching coach.
Drew French will take over the position, a team source confirmed to The Baltimore Banner, replacing Chris Holt, who will focus full time on his role as director of pitching. MASN was first to report the news.
French was most recently with the Braves, where he spent the last three seasons as bullpen coach. He previously worked in the Astros organization in multiple positions — including as pitching coach of their Triple-A team. He overlapped with Orioles general manager Mike Elias and Holt during their time with Houston.
French will be tasked with leading a pitching staff that includes Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means and Dean Kremer as its core rotation. Cole Irvin, Tyler Wells and DL Hall also have starting experience and have intentions of returning to that role next season, but whether they will be in the rotation or the bullpen is not known.
With the Braves, French led a bullpen that performed with the best in the National League. That included 2021, when Atlanta had a 3.50 ERA and won the World Series during French’s first year with the team.
The Orioles will also need to hire an assistant pitching coach, because Darren Holmes will not return to the organization in 2024. The rest of the coaching staff is expected to remain the same.
