The Orioles’ veteran manager has the full and unwavering support of GM Mike Elias despite the team’s brutal start to the 2025 season.
The Baltimore Orioles are off to a miserable 14-24 start in 2025.
The Orioles have the fourth-worst record in all of baseball and the second-worst mark in the American League, ahead of only the moribund Chicago White Sox. After just 38 games, Baltimore is already 7.5 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East. Yet despite the grim reality of the Orioles’ early season hole, GM Mike Elias believes the team can still make the playoffs.
That faith, or perhaps delusion, goes a long way toward explaining Elias’ unwavering support for manager Brandon Hyde who is fully confident in his job security as the Orioles’ skipper regardless of his on-field results this season.
“Mike [Elias] has been incredibly respectful for me. He’s been incredibly supportive as well as everyone else in the front office, ownership,” Hyde explained, per The Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich on X.
Can Brandon Hyde pull the Orioles out of their 2025 tailspin?
Hyde took over as the Orioles’ manager in 2019.
The team missed the playoffs in his first four seasons at the helm but Baltimore improved over Hyde’s last three seasons in charge, making the playoffs in 2023 and 2024. However, he has yet to win a postseason series, or even a postseason game as the Orioles were swept in the playoffs each of the last two years.
In fact, Baltimore hasn’t won a playoff series since 2014 when Buck Showalter was manager.
Yes, Hyde did win Manager of the Year in 2023 when the Orioles won 101 games. But the team was swept in the ALDS by the Rangers that season. Last year the Royals made quick work of Baltimore in the Wild Card round.
Despite a lack of postseason success and a brutal start in 2025, which earned the Orioles an early-season “F” grade from ESPN, Elias has a borderline perplexing amount of confidence in Hyde.
To be fair, the Orioles have suffered quite a few injuries this season as Grayson Rodriquez and Kyle Bradish have yet to make their season debuts and Zach Eflin spent time on the IL. Additionally, Tyler O’Neill, Jordan Wesburg and Colton Cowser have all landed on the injured list.
Perhaps the Orioles can return to health and make a run, justifying Elias’ faith in Hyde.
But given the sheer quantity and extent of the injuries, a sudden bounce back is unlikely. And as the Orioles sink further out of contention while they await reinforcements, the less likely a second-half turnaround becomes.
Still, Hyde’s managed the team to three straight winning campaigns so maybe he deserves the unconditional support he’s receiving from his GM as well as the benefit of the doubt from fans.
