Craig Albernaz’s impact on Orioles’ catchers

Baltimore moved on from Brandon Hyde during the 2025 season, but they’ll replace him this year with another former catcher. New manager Craig Albernaz was a backstop for nine seasons in the minors. After his playing career wrapped up, he entered the coaching ranks. Albernaz’s first gig at the major-league level was as a catching instructor and bench coach with the Giants.

Albernaz’s lengthy catching experience as a player and coach could come in handy with Baltimore. Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo are two of the club’s key players, both for 2026 and beyond.

“I’m excited,” Albernaz told reporters earlier this month, including Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports. “Adley and Basallo both have a ton of talent. Obviously, Basallo coming in, relatively not a lot of experience at the big league level, but you just see the talent jump right at you. And Adley, even before he got to the big leagues, and his pedigree behind the plate.”

The trade of Alex Jackson on Friday could increase Baltimore’s reliance on Rutschman and Basallo. Jackson has mostly been a backup in his career, but he had the second-most plate appearances at catcher for Baltimore last season. There was a chance the team would carry all three catchers next year. Basallo started 20 games behind the plate, but also made a pair of starts at first base and spent time at DH. Scouting reports aren’t glowing about his defensive capabilities, outside of a strong arm. FanGraphs gave him a 30 scouting grade for his current fielding ability and a 40 future grade. MLB.com was more generous, though a 45 fielding grade still isn’t ideal.

Rutschman had 18 appearances at DH in 2025, though oblique issues limited him to a career-low 90 games. He had at least 45 DH appearances in both 2023 and 2024. Rutschman is a solid defender, but injuries have limited his offensive production in back-to-back seasons. The backstop took a ball off the hand midway through the 2024 season. He didn’t go on the IL, but hit just .200 over the final three months of the season. Rutschman strained both his left and his right obliques this past season. He managed just 365 plate appearances, his fewest since his first professional season in 2019.

Albernaz has worked with some strong options behind the plate in his coaching career. Buster Posey’s final year in San Francisco was Albernaz’s first full season as catching instructor. Albernaz’s final season with the team saw Patrick Bailey emerge as an everyday option. Bailey hasn’t been much of an offensive contributor, but he’s been elite at pitching framing and controlling the running game. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner. Rutschman might not be Posey and Basallo probably won’t be Bailey, but figuring out how to utilize both players will be key for Albernaz.

“I’m biased toward catching, having a great tandem behind the plate should help us win a lot of games in itself, and with those two guys, I’m going to lean on them a lot,” Albernaz said. “I’m going to give them a lot of information as far as how to help lead this team, our pitching staff, and also hold the coaches accountable. Because a high-functioning team, those catchers are involved in a lot of the process.”

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images.