The Baltimore Orioles‘ Brandon Hyde was named the American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday, as the Miami Marlins‘ Skip Schumaker won the National League award.
Under Hyde, the Orioles orchestrated one of the most impressive two-season turnarounds in MLB history. In 2021, they were — once again — the worst team in the majors. They had finished 52-110, the third time in four seasons they had lost at least 108 games, and the second time they had done so under Hyde. The rebuild was trudging along very slowly, and winning seasons still appeared to be a distant dream.
Then, in 2022, the Orioles improved to 83-79. Most experts predicted some regression in 2023, believing the Orioles had put together a fluke season. Instead, they won 101 games to finish with the best record in the AL, won the AL East title for the first time since 2014 and won 100 games for the first time since 1980.
“I’m super proud of our organization and how far we’ve come, exceeding expectations the last two years,” Hyde said. “We had a great season this year. It’s been quite a journey and a long road, but I’m super happy to be a Baltimore Oriole and how far we’ve come in five years.”
Hyde outpointed Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers and Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays to capture the award, picking up 27 of the 30 first-place votes. Voting factors in only regular-season results.
In the NL, Schumaker, a first-year manager, took top honors after the Marlins reached the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2003. In a split vote that saw six managers receive first-place votes, Schumaker tied with Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves with eight first-place votes while Craig Counsell, now the Chicago Cubs‘ manager, finished second overall for his work with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Marlins squeaked into the playoffs as a wild-card team in the final days of the regular season, finishing 84-78 thanks to an impressive 33-14 record in one-run games. That record allowed the Marlins to make the postseason despite a minus-57 run differential — the worst ever for a playoff team. Schumaker is the fourth Marlins manger to win the annual award after Jack McKeon in 2003, Joe Girardi in 2006 and Don Mattingly in 2020.
“I think we set a new standard in that clubhouse and now it’s time to protect the standard,” Schumaker said. “I told that to the guys after losing the series to a really good Phillies team and I just felt like the culture kind of changed. They know what winning looked like. They know what to expect now. After you get a taste of that postseason, you just want to get back there any way you can, and that’s the next step for our organization.”
The Orioles’ rebuild began in 2019 with the hiring of Mike Elias from the Houston Astros as general manager. He brought in Hyde, who had been the bench coach under Joe Maddon with the Cubs after previously serving as a minor league manager and bench coach with the Marlins. With a terrible major league roster, a farm system rated among the worst in the game at the time and the difficulties of navigating the AL East, Elias and Hyde knew the path to a division title wasn’t going to be easy.
“I don’t think you go into a season expecting to win 101 games,” Hyde said. “I was hoping we would build off last year. I was really encouraged by the second half we had last year. I felt like if we stayed healthy and with some young players coming into their own … that if we built off last year’s momentum, we could be better than last year.”
Indeed, the Orioles proved the critics wrong, improving by 18 games this season — through good defense, superb baserunning, an underrated offense and a great 1-2 punch in the bullpen (at least until closer Felix Bautista got injured) — and winning the division.
“We were dreaming of that when we started the rebuild,” Elias said at his end-of-season news conference. “It seemed impossible. You know, the people here pulled it together and I think it’s just a historic achievement. This group of players, regardless of where else they go in their careers and their lives, I hope the city of Baltimore remembers this group for kind of reminding the world this is Baltimore and we do baseball here.”
In those early years under Hyde, the Orioles focused on creating the right culture while hoping the wins would eventually follow once the farm system started producing better players, which it has. Adley Rutschman came up in 2022, Gunnar Henderson just won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, Kyle Bradish developed into a top starter this past season and rookie pitcher Grayson Rodriguez also looks like a potential rotation anchor.
With a young team and presumably flexibility to grow the payroll, the Orioles could be players in the free-agent market in the offseason. Hyde hopes some of those free agents understand what’s going on in Baltimore with a young, exciting team.
“People are going to see that they enjoyed playing here and that this is a fun team to be on, and we’re going to win,” Hyde said at the end of the season. “I would expect that we’re going to possibly acquire veteran players. That’s an important part of the clubhouse.”
After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”
Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.
It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.
“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”
Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.
“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”
Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.
“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”
In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.
“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”
The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.
He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.
He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.
It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.
“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”
He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.
Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.
“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”
Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.
Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.
Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.
Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.
Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.
Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.
Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.
Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.
BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.
Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.
“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”
Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.
Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.
“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”
Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.
“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”
Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.
“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”