BALTIMORE — Less than two weeks after firing longtime manager Brandon Hyde, the Orioles made an experienced addition to their coaching staff by hiring John Mabry as senior advisor.
They’ve also lost another outfielder with Cedric Mullins being placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The club re-signed utility player Cooper Hummel to take his place on the 26-man roster and transferred right-handed pitcher Cody Poteet (right shoulder inflammation) to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster. The moves were announced prior to Friday afternoon’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox that was moved up 2 1/2 hours because of the threat of inclement weather.
The lack of major league experience of interim manager Tony Mansolino and the rest of the coaching staff was hardly a secret, which led many to call for general manager Mike Elias to add an experienced voice in the wake of Hyde’s May 17 dismissal. The 54-year-old Mabry not only had coaching stints with St. Louis (2012-18), Kansas City (2020-22), and Miami (2023-24), but he played parts of 14 major league seasons for eight different teams from 1994-2007.
Mabry spent the 2024 campaign with the Marlins under then-manager Skip Schumaker as the hitting coach after serving as the assistant hitting coach the previous season. He also served as hitting coach for the Cardinals from 2013-18. The Orioles already employ hitting coach Cody Asche and assistant hitting coaches Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson.
“I’m excited about that one,” said Mansolino about the hiring of Mabry. “Anytime you get a guy that’s played that long in the big leagues, that has coached that long in the big leagues, who has been kind of a part of different eras of the big leagues now and kind of survived and had the longevity that he has, it’s definitely a guy that has a lot of wisdom and is going to be a great resource for us in all areas. I think, directly, he’s gonna assist me, but I also envision him assisting in all areas.”
Mullins had missed three of the last five games with a previously unspecified issue, but Mansolino described the hamstring strain as “very minor” and expressed optimism that the veteran outfielder might only miss the 10-day minimum. With Mullins now sidelined and Colton Cowser (left thumb fracture) not expected to be activated from the 60-day IL until next week’s road trip, four of the five outfielders on the Opening Day roster are currently on the IL with the other two being Tyler O’Neill (left shoulder impingement) and Ramon Laureano (left ankle sprain). Heston Kjerstad is the only healthy outfielder remaining from the season-opening group, and the long list of injuries has prompted time in the outfield for the likes of first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and infielder Jorge Mateo.
After a red-hot opening month that included six home runs and a .278/.412/.515 slash line, Mullins has struggled in May with a .179 average and a .574 on-base plus slugging percentage over 88 plate appearances.
With Mullins officially going on the IL, Dylan Carlson was set to start in center field in Friday’s game.
