The Orioles finally have their new pitching coach and bullpen coach in the fold. A pair of former Orioles players who were teammates on the 1996 squad will be taking up the posts. The new pitching coach is Roger McDowell, who had been serving as Atlanta’s pitching coach since 2006. The bullpen coach is Alan Mills, most recently the O’s pitching coach at Double-A Bowie.
It all works out in a circle-of-life kind of way. McDowell replaces Dave Wallace, who came from the Braves and has gone back to the Braves. Indeed, the O’s seem to have a fascination, spanning many managers and general managers, with Braves pitching instructors, given that we all once spent time getting excited over the hire of Leo Mazzone back in the Sam Perlozzo days.