Building relationships top priority for O's new pitching coach

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Tucker Davidson didn’t know Drew French all that well when the two spent time together in Atlanta during parts of the 2021 and ‘22 seasons. But the left-hander didn’t need to in order to tell that French -- the Braves’ bullpen coach at the time -- was destined for a higher job in baseball someday.

“I knew immediately of meeting him. Just being able to talk ball with him in the bullpen, I knew it was a stopping point for him,” said Davidson, a non-roster invitee in Orioles camp this spring. “Getting to learn under Rick Kranitz and being a part of that Atlanta team was probably an awesome learning experience for him, but he always had a bigger goal, in my opinion, of wanting to be a big league pitching coach.”

French is getting that opportunity for the first time this year with Baltimore, which hired the 39-year-old as its pitching coach in late November. He immediately got to work, using the winter months to reach out to Orioles pitchers and learn more about each of them.

• Q&A with Drew French

Those relationships have continued to develop over the past three weeks in Sarasota, where French is working with the Orioles’ stable of arms and helping to get them prepared for the 2024 season.

“You have to be diligent about your day and how you map everything out,” French said. “But I think the first couple of weeks of camp gives you a really good opportunity to visit with everybody, because everybody’s throwing bullpens on a staggered schedule and live BPs and things like that.

“It’s been really good so far.”

It helped that French and nearly every pitcher in Baltimore’s camp had already built a foundation. Not only were there phone calls made, but there were dinner get-togethers as well.

French’s initial rendezvous with new ace Corbin Burnes happened a bit later. The 29-year-old right-hander had a lot to get in order -- such as living accommodations in both Sarasota and Baltimore for him and his family -- before reporting for camp in mid-February.

Burnes had spent his entire professional career in the Milwaukee organization before he was traded Feb. 1. So far, he’s enjoyed getting to know Baltimore’s group of pitching experts, which includes French and newly promoted assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer.

Early in camp, Burnes has noticed cohesion, an openness to sharing data/analytics and good conversations. But it still takes some time to create a comfort level among all parties.

“It’s all about just making connections with guys,” Burnes said. “Knowing when things aren’t going well what gets a guy right, whether it’s you’ve got to get on the guy a little bit, you’ve got to sweet talk him a little bit. Every guy kind of has their own thing. I just think the most important is knowing each and every player.”

Davidson believes it can take a handful of game appearances for players and pitching coaches to become fully in sync. That’s a reason why Spring Training outings are important, so the parties can interact with each other in a more competitive environment.

By the time the regular season arrives, everybody is “locked in” with each other, based on the 27-year-old Davidson’s experiences in other organizations.

“Just getting to learn each other, I think that’s been the biggest thing,” Davidson said. “The access to the information and how [French and the coaches] interpret it to you, it’s very simple of, ‘We want you to do this for this reason. What do you have for us?’ It might be, ‘Oh, I don’t really like that.’ Or, ‘I don’t feel comfortable doing that.’ They’re very open to that and making sure we’re all kind of on the same page.”

In all aspects, French’s tenure as Baltimore’s pitching coach is off to a strong start. But he credits that to the players.

Starters showed up immediately ready to get into a five- or six-day routine. Relievers were prepared to get into live BP sessions earlier than anticipated.

“I’ve been really, really impressed with the whole group, their preparedness level when they got here,” French said. “Because we were able to hit the ground running and get everybody on an individualized schedule for themselves and for what we need to do for our club this year.”

More big things could be ahead for the Orioles this season as they look to defend their American League East championship fresh off a 101-win 2023 campaign. Their pitching staff is loaded with talented, young hurlers and now headlined by a true ace in Burnes.

French’s fresh voice should fit in quite well, as it already has up to this point in the spring.

“He brings good energy to the clubhouse, to the mound,” right-hander Grayson Rodriguez said. “Really looking forward to it this year.”